Primal Inheritance Freedom
by DarianTerrell
Summary: Danielle and Allen were volunteering at a park when they discovered and freed the strongest werewolves in existence. Now, every supernatural creature is hunting them down. Some want to kill them. Some want to experiment on them. And some want to become them.
1. A Day At The Park

_**Allen**_

"This is my favorite part of the job."

"Really? Because I hate this."

My friend Danielle and I were volunteering at Sardis Park. Unlike Danielle, I enjoyed picking up all the litter and walking around the entire park. She's acting like this is the hardest thing she's ever done.

"I don't see why you're whining so much," I told her." You love giving tours, and we're walking on most of the same trails."

"Yes, but we never do it for this long. Ugh!"

She just drops her trash bag and sits on a fallen tree. That's one of the highlights of this forest. We have almost as many dead trees as the ones still standing.

"Fine," I said because I hate when people quit and I'm the only fool still trying. We aren't actually getting paid anyway. This is just community service. But don't get comfortable. We still have to go to that tree that fell yesterday on the west side of the park. The trail is blocked off, but David told us to make sure no one is still using it."

Either she was glad this is our last assignment for today, or she was anxious to get away from the mosquitoes, because she hopped up instantly and said, "Let's go."

She also left her bag behind for me to pick up.

Typical.

The sky was grayish with huge clouds, and the constant wind felt amazing. The air was very warm, and it hadn't started raining yet.

"Hey Allen, I just realized," Danielle started as we got near the blocked trail.

"What if we see a homeless person living on the trail? I don't wanna be the person that has to tell them to move."

I hadn't considered that. "Neither do I."

She laughed. "But you're the guy. _You_ should be the one to tell them to move."

I smiled and shook my head. "Nope. No way. I'm gonna take my ass to the nearest McDonald's, get something to eat, and go home. I'll just say we didn't see anything."

"But you were the main one saying we weren't done yet though."

Just then, I tried to hop over a tree trunk and slipped on the edge.

Danielle laughed her hysterically while I dusted myself off.

"Alright, I'm going to get you for laughing just- oh, we're here."

This tree might've been the biggest in the park, or maybe not because I never pay attention to Danielle when she does the tours. I never bothered learning the information because I work with and maintain the plants.

"Hey, is this the biggest tree in the park?"

She was so busy inspecting the tree I didn't think she heard me.

"Heck no. It's not even in the top ten. In fact, the one behind you it's almost twice this size."

I looked back, and she was right.

"In my defense, it's hard to tell because this one has fallen down."

"Whatever, you need to see this."

Danielle moved out of the way to let me see. Under the tree, there was a giant slab of wood. I remembered the park director telling us not to mess with it. No one is sure why it was there, just that the previous owner had built it before he sold his land to Rhena Durham, the woman that founded this park. Two hundred and seventy one acres filled with dying trees and homeless hippies. I hope she got a good price for it.

"I thought this was bolted down." said Danielle.

"Someone must have recently opened it."

"Who would though?"

"You tell me."

Danielle started to move the slab away, revealing a dark drop down. The sky was getting darker, and the clouds were almost as dark as black, so there wasn't much light to actually see into the passageway. She had already started to put her feet in before I realized she was planning.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

She looked back at me and rolled her eyes. I hated that look. I feel her judging me through her eyelids.

"OK, fine. Let's go."

I wasn't going to let her go first because that would make me look like a bigger sissy, so I jumped right on in without thinking about how deep it was, or what I might land on. Needless to say, I almost broke my ankle. I didn't actually land on my face, but I'm not gonna say I didn't taste dirt either.

Danielle landed close by a second later, with the grace of Spider-Man. She didn't even make a sly comment about me falling, her eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness.

"Hold on, lemme get my phone."

She whispered as she fumbled next to me.

Then we heard the sound of something coughing, and some liquid spilling on the ground. Instantly, we both froze. Maybe there actually _was_ a homeless person down here.

"Did you hear that?" She whispered to me, her face almost completely hidden in the dark bunker.

"Yea," I whispered back, trying not to make a sound.

"Maybe, it's just an animal."

"There are still animals that _can rip our faces off, Allen._ " She says in a condescending tone like it's my fault we came down here.

She started to reach for her phone again, and suddenly, I felt a wave nausea wash over me. It seemed like this little bunker had filled with heat. I thought I was going to vomit. It felt like I didn't even have the energy to stand up anymore either. I started to lean towards the wall for support, and then I saw Danielle fall to the ground.

"Danielle? Are you okay? Danielle!" I slid to my knees and crawled to her, swallowing back the bile in my throat. I felt my way through the darkness to where I thought she was and finally came across her body. She was way too hot. She had passed out from the heat. How was I going to tell the park manager this, or why we were down here in the first place?

I started to try to shake her awake when I noticed it seemed to be getting brighter in the bunker. I looked up slightly, and my eyes focused on a torch in the wall that had been lit. But why was it lit? And who did it? While I was struggling to understand, three other torches lit up the entire room, revealing what the inside looked like.

I almost lost my damn mind. In the farthest side of the bunker, there were three people, two grown men, and one woman. They were beaten, bloodied, and tied up. There were silver chains connected to the ceiling, holding their hands above their heads. Their ankles were also chained, but the chains connected to the wall behind them.

The all had ratted, torn jeans on but were shirtless, even the girl. Her hair looked terrible, dirty and ripped, and there were traces of her hair on the floor to prove it. Despite being ripped, it was long. Not Rapunzel long, but it covered most of her chest and probably went all the way down her back. She was on the far right, and the men next to her didn't look any better.

One of their skin had a reddish tinge to it like he had been burned or spray tanned all over his body. And the one on the left, it looked as if he was a puppet. His body was bent weirdly compared to the other two.

They were either standing or being lifted by the chains. Their bodies were completely vertical. He, however, was a different story. The chains holding his arms was way longer because he was on his knees while his arms were raised. I noticed his chest moving up and down, and realized with a shock that they were all still alive.

"ALLEN! GET UP! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Danielle's voice was almost as scary as the people in the corner, mostly because it sounded far away, and not right under me. I looked to where I heard it, and there she was, on her side and holding her stomach. She tried to stand up and fell again. She started convulsing all over and then she threw up, turning away from me and spewing chunks in the corner.

If she was over there, then what was I holding? Now it was my turn to vomit. Now that the room was fully lit, I could clearly see that I was holding a gigantic, dead, dog. It was near twice my size, and its body was hot, so hot. I frantically pushed its body off me and scrambled towards the wall.

The thought of it was too much. I vomited so badly my head started to hurt, and I saw spots. I couldn't blink it out my eyes, just like I'd never get the image of that dog out of my head. Danielle put her hand on my shoulder.

"Allen, those people..." I stood up and tried to ignore the taste in my mouth. This time, I looked at everything in the room.

There were two torches on each side of the bunker. The walls, ceiling, and ground were all made up of dirt. I also saw some of the torture the devices some maniac must have left the last time he, or she, was here.

There was blood streaming down their bodies and puddles on the floor. A lot of it was dry, which made me which made me try to figure out how long they'd been down here. The two men were muscular, but their rib cages were visible, so I'd guess they'd been down here for days, maybe even a week or two.

 _ **Danielle**_

I started to move towards the people before Allen, who looked like he was about to toss his cookies a second time. That dog... I can't believe he thought that huge dog was me! I'd slap him if we weren't so scared right now. On the other hand, though, I'd probably be just as shaken up as he is if I was holding a dead animal without realizing it. I approached the one that was kneeling down. His chest was moving up and down way faster than before, but his eyes remained closed. Allen moved towards the girl. I wanted to tell that pervert to come over here and back me up, but my mouth couldn't form the words.

I had to breathe in and out to calm myself down, and my vomit breathe wasn't making it any easier. "H-hey," I stuttered and noticed that my voice sounded really small.

"Can you hear me? Are you okay?" A very stupid question to ask, but I had to say something.

He opened his eyes simultaneously, and his dead-shot, wide-eyed stare almost gave me a heart attack. I shrieked and screamed Allen's name, which caused the other two to wake up. Allen also took a step back from the girl, but his eyes remained locked on her.

"Allen!" I pleaded. "Help me." He turned around, blinked, and helped me up. "They won't speak," He told me after he wiped dirt off my clothes. "She won't respond."

I nudged him out of the way. "Maybe it's because of the way you've been looking at her, pervert." He looked at me, in shock, and launched into an explanation of how he wasn't looking at her that way, but I ignored him.

All three of them were looking at us, but none of them made a sound. The man in the middle looked the strongest, physically. He looked like he could take more of this torture, while the guy on the ground looked like he was ready to die. He stared at me in a way that made me feel like the hostage, not him. It made me feel naked and vulnerable, and all of the little courage I had completely vanished. "Danielle..." Allen poked my shoulder but I didn't reply. Is this how he felt when he was gazing into that girl's eyes? He seemed to give up on trying to snap me of it and decided to play the hero.

He stepped closer to the girl, and, in a very comforting tone, asked her, "Why won't you speak? Is there something wrong?" He touched her chin, but she didn't flinch. Then, softly but forcefully, he tried to open her mouth as a pool of blood came out of it.


	2. Freedom From Dirt

_**Allen**_

I instantly yanked my hand back away from her face. I noticed Danielle was finally paying attention to me, but only because the two chained men were looking at me as well. That was beyond disgusting, and it felt like my heart was beating a thousand times a minute.

I had to breathe. I had to control myself. We needed to help these people. I looked at her face again, and she was crying. Did I offend her, or was she scared? I had no idea. But wait... Her mouth was still hanging open, and the blood had stopped spilling. Why didn't she close her mouth ?

This time, I moved forward and looked closely. There was a huge silver rod right in the middle of her tongue. That's why she was crying! It wasn't my fault, That thing must have been extremely painful. That explains why she wouldn't talk. That must be the reason the men wouldn't talk either.

Still though, what good would taking it out do? They'd still have a huge hole in their tongue. Her eyes were pleading, and I immediately felt sympathetic. It's heavy, is gotta be. This time, I held her jaw in my left hand. Using my index finger and thumb I removed the metal bar from her mouth. She closed her mouth and her eyes and let out a small moan.

I guess removing it did relieve the pain a little bit.

"Danielle, open their mouths and take-"

"Cut us free." I looked back at the girl in front of me, who had a small smile on her face. She spoke! How? That hole should have stopped her from speaking, and she should be bleeding a lot more from her mouth. "Come on. Grab that sword and cut us free." The girl wasn't really smiling now, she kinda looked frustrated. I suppose I would be too, if I was chained up and an idiot was just standing there asking questions.

I picked up the thing she called a sword. Besides the hilt, it didn't look like a sword to me. The blade was not flat, it was more like the metal part of a thumbtack. "Hurry up! They could come back at any time!"

That stopped me in my tracks. "What? Who could come back? The people that did this?"

She knew I got sidetracked, so she said, "No, forget that, just cut these chains please." Why was she still scared though? "Look, we're here, so you're gonna be okay. We can call the poli-"

"Boy, just cut the damn chains and get us out of here." A deep voice growled at me. It was the main in the middle, the one who now looked like he was ready to kill me. "Stop asking questions." The man on the left didn't look l he was in any shape to speak, and had returned to the same position he was in when we first discovered them.

I lifted the sword. It was kinda heavy but light at the same time. The torches reflected off the sword, giving it an orangish look. I swung it as hard as I could, above the girls head. I guess it was the only thing supporting them, because she fell to her knees as soon as the chains were cut. I dropped the sword to help her, while the man in the middle fake coughed to get my attention.

" _Excuse me?_ " He snapped, but I was too preoccupied to care. Luckily for him however, Danielle picked up the sword and was about to cut him down. Right before we watched the girl's chains that were hanging get snatched straight into the wall.

 _ **Danielle**_

"What the hell was that?" I asked, slowly picking the sword back up. I looked over to Allen, who was trying to undo the silver bands on the long haired girl's wrist.

"Maybe the chains are retractable."

That nerd thinks he knows everything. I swung the sword and cut the middle man free.

He didn't collapse like the girl, he just dropped to his knees and looked at his friend. He whispered in a low voice, "Jamie, you're gonna make it. We're gonna get out of here, and we're going to murder every single one of them." Hearing that, I had second thoughts about cutting them down.

"Allen, we need to talk about this." At that moment the middle man's chains got snatched into the wall, and disappeared. I turned back to Allen, who had taken off his red Sardis Park volunteer shirt and given it to the girl. "I don't like this," he started, helping the girl sit upright. "Why won't you guys just tell us what happened to you?"

The next thing we heard was the most inhuman sound I've heard since I was born. It was mixture between a bear and dog, a painful wailing sound like the animal was dying. "There's no time left," said the man that used to be in the middle. "Barron's dying." Unlike the girl, who needed Allen's help, he literally just forced the silver bands on his wrists to break. Smoke seemed to flow off his wrists as he did it. With his right arm, he ripped the restraints off his feet, hopped up and snatched the needle looking sword.

"Wait, what are you going to do? Who's Barron?" I was begging for an explanations that he clearly wasn't going to give. He freed Jamie's arms and his wrists. The _thing_ named Barron also roared in that moment, and it didn't sound as painful as last time. This time it sounded wild, and angry, and it shook the walls that the chains used to be connected to.

"Jamie get ready, Marissa, GET UP!" He seemed a little bit softer to Jamie, but I guess he did look like he dealt with the most. Marissa had a pained expression on her face, but she leaped up at the unnamed guys command. Allen started to protest.

"Wait, she's still hurt! And are you planning to fight whatever that thing is?" The man who hadn't been named looked at Allen, and I'm sure his heart stopped, cause he just sat there, petrified. He growled, a deep, wolfish, menacing growl that almost made me cry. I didn't know what would kill us first, the monster named Barron, or this guy. "Donovan! Look back!" Marissa saved Allen's ass and all of ours in that moment, because the dirt wall crumbled and revealed the mighty Barron.

 _ **Allen**_

Donovan. So that's what this bastard's name is. After Barron revealed himself, I realized three things. One, Barron is an _actual_ monster. Two, these people, Marissa, Donovan and Jamie can't be human, because all their wounds have healed, and they knew this thing was here. They weren't bleeding anymore, all I saw was dried up blood. And three, Donovan probably hates me more than I realize. I felt it in the way he stared at me. It was like he wanted to rip my head off, and all I did was try to make sure Marissa was okay.

But Barron though... He, she, it, was about 7 foot tall, and huge as hell. It's head looked like a bear's, but it's body was an amalgamation of two, (maybe three?) different things. It's arms were not bear arms, they were buff, unnatural arms and they ended in humanlike hands with big claws almost as long as the fingers themselves.

The hind legs were doglike, the tail, and the paws. But there was something off about this beast. It was obvious he wanted to kill us, but it didn't look like he had the strength to do it.

He bared his teeth, and got ready to pounce.

"Hey! You! Here!" It was Marissa, trying to get my attention. I looked over, and she took off my shirt and threw it at me. I don't know what upset me more; the fact that she gave it back, or that she hadn't learned my name despite the fact that Danielle has said it several times. But she had a good reason for taking it off.

Her, Donovan, and Jamie all got into a defensive stance. They flanked each other, and all of them growled, the same way Donovan growled at me earlier. A funny thought came into my mind during the chaos. Danielle had inched her way to me, and we stood way behind them. "Dani," I said to her right as Barron jumped. "I know this sounds stupid, but I think they might be werewo-"

All at once, they jumped and shifted into three big ass dogs that each were a different color. Their torn jeans, the only clothing they had, was left on the ground. Donovan, was on the right and he turned into a huge brown wolf. But before they could attack, Barron ducked and rolled under them. The three animals that used to be Donovan, Marissa and Jamie slammed into a wall that Barron had millions of scratches on, probably from trying to escape.

The mighty beast came to a stop right in front of us, and I closed my eyes and prayed my death would be quick. His breath smelled rainwater, and for some reason, I was still curious enough to see his face. I stayed pressed up against the wall, but I opened my eyes. Danielle wasn't doing what I was, she had curled up into a ball on the floor.

I moved my head, one inch. Two inches. Three inches. And I was eye to eye with the angry beast. He eyes were probably normally yellow, but now they were bloodshot. "Please, don't kill us," I said, hoping this thing had some intelligence and mercy.

The next thing I know, the beast picked us up in his claws. "Oh shit, we're dead." Was the first thing I thought as he put Danielle in his other arm. I thought she'd be screaming, but apparently, she was unconscious.

The Three Worthless Musketeers were regrouping, but by the time they shook off the shock from running into the wall, Barron was trying to stand straight up. On his hind legs. He was forcing the ground above him to break and move, and before I knew it, he broke through completely. With one small jump, he leaped from the destroyed bunker and onto a tougher ground.

To my surprise, he set us down gently. Or, as gently as he could anyway. His claws were really sharp, and my left side stung. I dreaded the next time I looked at a mirror. I doubted Danielle would have any scars or scratches, because he held her in his fist.

I stood up as soon as he put me down. Looking into his eyes, it didn't seem like he was going to kill us. He looked sad and tired. Maybe, he was also being tortured down there. I reached out, and softly touched his snout. To my astonishment, he flinched at my touch... At _my touch!_ He let out a soft, purring sound... Was he mixed with a cat too...? "You're not evil after all, are you?"

This little moment only lasted a few seconds because after the he stopped purring, the light in his eyes seemed to fade. The massive creature started coughing softly, And with that, came a stream of blood out of one of his nostrils. "Oh no, no no." Barron head drooped in my arms, and his body slumped completely to the ground.

Marissa, Jamie and the asshole appeared from the pile dirt that used to be the bunker. They had put the torn jeans they were wearing earlier back on. Marissa was wearing my red Sardis Park shirt again. I guess she only took it off so it wouldn't rip. As they got close, I noticed all three of them had tears going down their faces. They were all crying. For Barron. I don't exactly see why, because they just tried to kill him 5 minutes ago.

"What are we going to do with him?" Marissa asked. "Let's bury him by the lake," said Jamie. "It's not right to bury him near the place he was trapped for 15 years.


	3. Memorial

_**Allen**_

"15 years? You guys have been trapped for fifteen years?!" Jamie looked down at his arms. "No. What year is it?" Danielle told him. "Oh. Well, then we've only been trapped for six years. In our minds, the torture lasted 15 years." He said it like that made it better. I wanted to ask how, but after seeing them transform, and Barron, asking another question like that would just be downright retarded. Donovan took a step forward and put both hands on Barron.

"I'm taking him to the lake. You guys grab the... _people_ ," he said with disgust, "And bring them with us. We may still need their help." Barron was the size of a van, so I wasn't sure if this guy could do it. "Quickly, we don't have much time."

A lot of time must have passed since we entered the bunker, because it was almost completely dark, and it was lightly raining. Donovan was moving so quickly I bet he could already see the lake ahead, and I'm not completely sure, but I think the lake was at least two miles from the blocked trail.

I didn't understand what they were pushing for, and I didn't have a chance to, because Marissa picked me up like a man would carry his woman over the threshold, and busted out running like a car in a high-speed chase. I was extremely annoyed. Call me sexist, say my ego is fragile, I don't care. I was the one that rescued _her._

This display of her wolf speed was impressive and all, but I doubt I'd be hard to lift anyways, I only weigh a hundred something pounds. I guess, after this ended, I at least wanted to hear a thank you. Especially from Donovan.

 _ **Danielle**_

 _He was moving so fast he almost gave me vertigo._ Jamie, the one who looked like he'd given up on life, now looked better than ever. Well, I can't actually say that, because he was still covered in blood. He had brown skin and frizzy short hair, but I couldn't see his eyes yet. In fact, I couldn't see much of anything because I kept bouncing so quickly.

I decided to close my eyes and wait for him to stop moving. "Aye, wake up, we're here."

Crap. It only took 6 minutes! He set me down gently on my feet. The girl named Marissa also set Allen down, but he didn't look happy about it. Donovan had dug a huge pit, it was almost perfectly rectangular and the mounds of dirt laid right next to it, about ten feet from the water. Donovan hopped out in his wolf form and looked at us.

He barked twice, and Jamie and Marissa walked toward the lake. She took off Allen's shirt once again and dove into the water. So did Jamie. I knew they were trying to clean the blood off of them, but it had to be cold as hell in the water, human or not. She emerged before he did and was about to hop straight out of the water, when Jamie's hand came up, grabbed her by her hair, and yanked her back down.

There were several bubbles appearing, but they stopped. This time, she stuck her head out, swam close to the edge, and asked Allen for his shirt. I guess Jamie was trying to teach her some decency.

They both came out and put Barron into the ground without Donovan's help. Maybe he couldn't change back? Nah, I doubt that. He probably just couldn't wear his pants again. As Donovan started putting the dirt over the grave, I went to talk to Jamie. "Can you tell me about him?" I asked, hoping he'd give me some information this time.

"We've known Barron for years. He was an untamed beast a long time ago, but he'd help us whenever we were in our wolf forms. That was until the vampires got us." Jamie's face was serious, and so was Marissa's. He didn't explain what the vampires did at that moment because Donovan started to speak.

"Jamie, did you get my..." Jamie tossed Donovan his pants, which were soaking wet. Donovan's voice in his wolf form was at least 2 times deeper and scratchier. He hid behind the mound of dirt on top of Barron's grave and came back human.

"Ok, now, We need a place to stay. Can you help us?" Allen decided to speak first. "I think you guys could fit in my apartment. How long would you plan on staying?" Donovan looked at him with apprehension. "Trust me, we wouldn't want to be there any longer than we'd have to be. At sunrise, we'll be gone."

Just then, the temperature dropped to about ten degrees. Jamie, Marissa, and Don (Yes, I'm calling him Don) looked up at once and sniffed the air. "Shit," Marissa exclaimed. "They've found us." She looked scared as if she'd been expecting this to happen.

I heard a voice so chilling it gave me butterflies in my stomach.

"Well, well, well..." The man let out a malevolent laugh. "Who let the dogs out?"

I looked back, and some man was holding Donovan. No... The man was six feet tall, and his arm went straight through Don's lower left side, and it grabbed Don by the throat. His feet weren't even touching the ground, he was being completely lifted by the stranger.

I couldn't help myself. I let out an uncontrollable, piercing scream.

That must've been Marissa's call to action because right after I screamed she broke into a sprint. But the tall man anticipated this. "Ahh, no. Let's make it even, shall we?"

Two women appeared, seemingly emerging directly from his shadow.

"Wait! Wait! Stop." Don's voice, sounded loud and clear like he didn't have a hole in his side; like he wasn't even being strangled right now. Marissa seemed to have an internal struggle because she stopped abruptly but her face didn't change. She was still twitching, ready to attack, but unable to move.

Don must be the Alpha, I came to realize. I wonder what it feels like to be forced to obey someone. That can't feel good. "What's the point of this, why have you come?" Don was still trapped, but he didn't look weak in the least bit. It was like this was just a minor inconvenience, and he couldn't wait for it to be over.

"You know exactly why we've been sent here. Don't play coy. We should have killed you when we had the chance." He withdrew his hand from Don's body and kicked him so hard he made a big impression on the ground.

Donovan got up like it was nothing, and his wound started healing. "If I recall, when you had the chance you still couldn't kill us." Marissa still wasn't able to move, and I could hear her struggling from a few feet away. I moved closer to Don, tapped his shoulder, and pointed at her. He blinked and nodded, and Marissa's expression softened. She seemed at ease. So I guess these monsters have telepathy too. Great.

"You know, I hate you little breastfeeders with a passion. You, Axel, also have ancient blood, but you aren't hunted and persecuted like we are." Axel had the nerve to laugh. "First of all, don't call us breastfeeders, that's disgusting. Second, you know that vampires are the most revered creatures in the _Sky_. We outrank you in blood and honor."

"But not in strength!" Jamie ran up and punched Axel. As soon as he made contact, Axel's head jerked back and his neck made a cracking sound. He went flying into the lake, creating gigantic ripples on the surface. Jamie did not choose to pursue, instead, he chose to look at the lake, and wait. Meanwhile, Marissa began to attack one of the vampire girls.

One had blonde hair and glowing golden eyes. She was wearing black jeans, a red shirt, and a white jacket wrapped around her shoulders. The other had black hair with grey streaks in it, and her eyes gave a smokey white light. She had on blue jeans a pink crop top, and a short grey jacket. Marissa attacked the blonde, and the black haired one went after Don.

Marissa ran head first into the girl. She grabbed her by her sides, picked her up, and slammed her down. While this happened, Donovan refused to attack the other girl at all. He kept sidestepping and dodging her attacks. She started moving so fast I couldn't even see her, and the same goes for Don. At some moments, he completely disappeared after her attack, showing up seconds later and taunting her.

Marissa was obviously taking a very different approach. After slamming the girl down, she climbed on top of her and started swinging with full force. I felt every single impact. Right fist. Left fist. Right fist. Left fist. The ground shook with every devastating blow.

Luckily, she only hit her four times. After that, she started digging at the ground around the girl's head. All of this happened, while Allen and I just stood there, watching this whole spectacle while doing nothing.

 _ **Allen**_

 _My feelings for Marissa are so mixed._ I just watched her pound that girl's face into the ground. I'm pretty sure there would've been an earthquake if she continued because those punches could make a mountain crumble. What she was doing now, seemed kind of cruel. She had dug a big hole under the girl's head. And now she was shoving the girl into the hole, upside down. Every dog has its day, don't they?

But Donovan... The way he was refusing to hit that girl, despite her bloodlust, was kind of noble. I wouldn't have done the same, but I respected him for it. At the same time, Axel began to recover. He emerged from the water, a dark shadow with glowing pink eyes. He stood on top of it, or hovered above it, it seems. Everyone, including Danielle, was too busy to pay attention.

"Uh, Donovan?" I didn't really want to help the bastard, but this seemed like a good time. I distracted him. "WHAT?" He shouted angrily. That was a big mistake. The girl got lucky. She jumped up, did a weird spin kick, and aimed directly at his leg. I'm sure his leg snapped faster than Axel's neck did.

And it completely pissed him off. He roared, still in human form, and his eyes steamed white. The girl was frozen in place because white steamed flowed around her and stopped her from moving. But Donovan's right arm was completely covered in the bright white smoke. He raised it high, the backside of his hand facing her, and started to swing.

" _Oh well,"_ I thought as I watched it all progress. _"There goes his nobility."_ To my surprise, however, he stopped himself right before he got near her face, and the white smoke vanished. He back away, and she crumpled from the shock of the experience. All of his anger, all of his rage, getting that close to her. I bet she almost was able to read his mind.

I thought Jamie would be waiting for Axel to retaliate, but he wasn't. He kept shaking his head and arms like he was being attacked by invisible, mutant mosquitoes. That's when I remembered Axel. I looked back at the lake, but he was gone. _Holy crap. This isn't good._

Donovan and Marissa had already taken care of their opponents and were walking toward Jamie. "Hey," I spoke up because everyone had grouped up except me. "Where did Ax-"

A hand twice the size of my own was completely wrapped around my throat. I don't know what exactly I expected a vampire to smell like, but I wasn't expecting him to smell like candy. He smelled like starbursts, and his grip was so strong I was already starting to suffocate.

"Ooh," said that deep, chilling voice. "Looks like you guys found some toys to play with."


	4. Rest

"So these are the humans that set you free? I doubt Avery would like this." His voice sounded humorous, like he was just playing with them. I was certain he wasn't because things were starting to get darker and darker, and I saw spots.

"So what if they are?" Donovan asked, bending over and examining the girl he defeated. "It's not like they are special. All they did was cut the chains." Axel's grip on Allen loosened. "So you won't mind if I just run off with this then?"

"Nope. Never liked him in the first place."

That bastard! How could he just betray me like this, when we freed them?

"Donnie, he saved us," Marissa interjected. "You can't turn a blind eye to that." Jamie also took a step forward. "I agree. If not for them we'd still be sleeping, being tortured in our own minds, with no way to escape."

See? At least they were sticking up for me. Donnie the Douche was ready to leave me for dead. But what did Jamie mean by _being tortured in our own minds?_ That doesn't make sense. We saw their wounds and their blood. Plus, there were actual weapons in the bunker.

"You clearly can't beat our asses but you don't want to go home looking like a failure. I'll tell you what, give us that thing back and Marissa won't eat your little sisters over here." That pissed off Axel, I could tell. He was breathing faster and I was so close I could feel his heart pounding. Although, I thought Vampire hearts didn't beat?

"You are so arrogant," said Axel through gritted teeth. I will rip this human's arms off and still keep him alive to see Avery. That's when the real torture..." I didn't hear the rest of what he said, because, at that moment, I completely passed out.

 _ **Danielle**_

 _"-when the real torture begins."_ Why am I so useless? Allen was in Axel's grasp, and I was hiding behind Jamie. I know there was nothing I could do to stop him, but I wish I could have done something. "You have to do something!" I shrieked at Donovan, knowing he would listen to me. "Fine, I'll take him out easy." He started stretching his arms, and smiled, revealing wolfish teeth instead of the human ones I saw when I removed the metal rod.

White smoke started to seep from his right hand again and he burst into a run, moving so quickly the dirt flew into the air from his original position. Next, the weirdest thing happened. I heard a voice in my head that sounded exactly like Donovan. It said, " _Two birds, one stone"_ and I immediately knew what was going to happen. Axel was using Allen as a guard because he clearly didn't know how little Donovan cares about Allen.

Marissa made her move before my little voice could even begin to shout. She ran fast and jumped over Donovan, transforming into her wolf form. Her hind legs kicked Donovan in the head, making him fall back and propelling her forward.

Allen was only 5 foot 6, so aiming for the seven-foot tall vampire's head was easy. She tackled him to the ground and he continued to scream while she mauled his face. I took this as my chance to do something. I ran past the big brown wolf Donovan and dragged Allen away from Axel. The Wolf Donovan let out an angry howl and bared his fangs visually viciously.

Before Marissa could decapitate him, Axel dissipated into a cloud of smoke and reformed into a colony of bats. They flew towards the girl that Donovan defeated. Axel's human form took shape again. He cradled her in his arms, bit her ear, and said "Jessica." In a puff of smoke, she became a single, little bat in the palm of Axel's hand.

His body distorted, and suddenly he was near the girl Marissa defeated. I could still hear Donovan shouting behind me, but I wasn't sure why, because Axel wasn't targeting us anymore. The blonde girl was still buried in the dirt upside-down, but that didn't stop Axel. He put the bat in his left hand and pressed his right palm on the ground.

In seconds, the ground began to shoot upward until the blonde was resting horizontally on top of it. He repeated the ritual he did with the black haired one, only this time, he said "Teresa." With both of the tiny bats in hand, he turned to look at us.

"Avery will know about this, and she won't just be hunting you." You've damned those children, and now they'll pay the price for your crimes." With that, he turned into another colony of bats, but this time, it looked like 4 of them was devoted to holding the two unconscious bats.

Axel was gone, but there was still a problem. Donovan, the big brown wolf, was snarling and snapping at Marissa, the slightly smaller, black wolf. What was wrong with him? He leaped up and started to attack Marissa. I had Allen in my arms, but I doubted Donovan would listen to reason. Jamie was in his human form, and he ran towards the gigantic dogs.

"Break it up!" He shouted, jumping on to Donovan's back and holding his neck. I didn't think he could do much to stop that big ass wolf, but he lifted Donovan off his feet, _by his neck,_ and flung him backward away from Marissa.

"Try to kill him again, and I'll kill you!" Marissa screamed, back in human form, with Allen's shirt now in tatters. So I was right. Donovan was going to punch straight through Allen's chest just to kill Axel. I just didn't know why she cared so much.

"I'm sick of you, fawning over that weak piece of s-"

"Donovan, shut up," Jamie demanded. "Um..." Jamie was looking at me. I guessed he was trying to figure out my name. "Danielle," I told him.

"Oh, right. Thank you. Danielle, where is Allen's apartment? Do you both live together?"

I don't know why, but I blushed. "No," I replied quickly. "But I know where it is. Let's go." Jamie has a quick glance at Marissa, then glared at Donovan. Now I wasn't sure who was Alpha, Jamie or Donovan.

 _ **Allen**_

 _As soon as I woke up, my life was complete._

I opened my eyes, and I was back at my apartment. Marissa, the werewolf girl, was laying on top of me. She had on my Ole Miss sweatshirt and was breathing softly. I don't know how she noticed I was awake because I hadn't made a sound.

Nevertheless, the moment I opened my eyes she raised her head and looked at me. "It's about damn time." She said, smiling. You've been out for three hours. "What time is it?" I asked, hoping this wasn't a dream.

It's 10:17 pm," she replied, sitting up. "I thought we weren't going to get to talk before I joined the Hunt." I looked around my room, but Danielle, Donovan, and Jamie were nowhere to be found. "Wait! Where the hell is everybody else! I had a roommate too! What did Jacob say when you all came in?"

"Shh..." Marissa leaned in closer and whispered into my ear. "Danielle went home, and three guys are outside waiting for me. There was nobody here when we came." That didn't make sense, because Steven would normally be playing games right now, eating food and streaming online.

I wanted to say more, but at that moment, she pressed her lips against mine. My brain turned to mush. Her jet black hair smelled like my shampoo, so she clearly had taken a shower before I woke up.

Marissa was slightly taller than me, and because of her features, I couldn't determine her ethnicity. Was she Italian? Canadian? French? It doesn't matter. Her body was curvy and amazing. She took off my hoodie and her body felt amazing against my skin.

She had obviously borrowed some of Danielle's underwear. Don't ask me why I know what Danielle's underwear looks like. Marissa was big breasted, but that didn't necessarily turn me on because I had been seeing those almost all day. What turned me on was the way that she looked at me, and the way she breathed against my skin.

I remembered that she said something about the Hunt, and about Jamie and Donovan waiting. I knew Donovan probably be pissed, but I was enjoying this so much. I looked through my window, and outside, the moon was large and a beautiful yellow. Between that, and Marissa, I felt like I could stay in this bed forever.

"Marissa... What about the hu-" She stopped me with another kiss. "Don't worry about that," she said, and as I looked into her eyes it seemed as if they were changing into the colorful, bright eyes of her wolf form. "I still have time."

 _ **Marissa**_

 _10:57 pm_ I looked at the watch I took off of Allen's wrist. " _I should probably go hunt before it starts to hurt," I thought to myself. If we haven't shapeshifted before midnight, it's like we lose the power to choose._ My hands were already starting to form claws. My eyesight was changing.

One thing I always hated is that we forget some of the things from the night of our change. I didn't want to forget the moment I just shared with Allen. Especially because I imprinted on him.

 _Imprinted. After I saw him, I was mesmerized._ I had been crying, praying for an answer, and finally, he came to our rescue. I felt like Princess Peach getting rescued by Mario. That was the first time I ever imprinted on someone. I didn't know it would make him like me too, but I'm glad it did.

Every second after I was free, I was thinking about him. And if Donovan, that stupid maniac, tried to kill him again, I'd rip his heart out. I looked at Allen's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful and happy like he was having the best dream in the world.

I hope he was dreaming about me. My mouth started to hurt. I could feel my wolf teeth growing. Normally, the transition was painless. The only times it hurts is the first time, and whenever we resist the moon's power.

I heard the newer generation of werewolves didn't have to deal with things like that. Lucky them. We were basically in one of the newer generations ourselves, but the werewolves we came from, the ones that Turned us... They were the greatest, oldest, and most potent in power. That's why everyone has a hit on us, that's why we were trapped and tortured.

They couldn't find a way to kill us. Silver was barely a kryptonite. Our bodies could endure that pain, but they found out that our minds couldn't. They had trapped us before. That was the easy part. The hard part was containing us.

But after they found a wizard to put a hex on our minds, we were defenseless. As soon as we were freed, Donovan, Jamie and I had all mentally agreed to find a wizard, and asking them everything they know about the spell. Not just out of curiosity, we wanted to know how the presence of two humans could break that spell.

But first, I needed to hunt before I lost control. I told Don and Jamie that I wanted to sleep to see if the curse would still haunt us. They obviously wouldn't want to feel that again, so I was completely in the clear to have some fun with Allen.

I wanted to make sure I remembered this. I leaned over to kiss Allen's forehead before I left. I'm not even sure why I did it, but I used my long fingernail to carve a tiny heart into his shoulder.

Like a tattoo.

Or a brand.

Because he's mine.

I got up and walked outside. Donovan and Jamie were already in their wolf forms, waiting for me.


	5. Left

_**Allen**_

"What time is it?" I yawned and woke up. I looked at my left arm, but my watch wasn't there. I tried to roll over to the left side of my bed, but Marissa was there, breathing softly. This day was already better than the last 23 birthdays I had.

I tried to move out the bed without waking her and discovered she had my watch on too. Blessings after blessings. Instead of getting completely up, I just sat up and continued to watch her sleep. Then my phone started to ring.

I had to look for it because at the moment, all I had on was underwear. Luckily, Marissa hadn't tossed my pants too far away from the bed and I was able to reach them without getting up. Sure enough, my phone was there.

The first thing I noticed was that it was on 14 percent. I've never let my phone drop below 80 in my life. I was OCD about it. It took me a minute to remember I was unconscious last night and did not actually come home by myself.

The caller was David. Should I pretend to be sick? No. Hell no. I'm not getting paid, I have my volunteer hours, I'm basically just a slave at this point. I let it stop ringing and then I sent an email. _Danielle and I are not going to make it today. Our families have plans._

This could be a great excuse for Danielle, for me, not so much. Danielle is Honduran, and there are lots of holidays she could say to get out of work. Me? I was just a regular African American. I don't even know much about African culture. I couldn't even claim Kwaanza without being caught in a lie.

I knew Danielle wouldn't go without me. I should probably go to her house and see how she's coping with all the crap we dealt with yesterday. Just then, Marissa snapped awake, and she looked angry as hell.

"Leave us alone! I fucking hate you!" She screamed. She had hopped out of bed and was growing at the door.

"What's going on? What's happening?" She was starting to scare me. I could only think of one person that would make her like this.

I moved towards the door, about to open it and look out, and we both heard a loud crashing sound, and next thing I know, I was being lifted off my feet. Donovan had burst through the window. He grabbed me by my neck and flung me towards the wall.

 _ **Marissa**_

Why the fuck is he so jealous?! Why won't he leave us alone? After the Hunt, I lost track of Donovan and Jamie. There was nothing unusual about that, sometimes we lose our humanity and go completely wolf. When that happens, our pack kinda splits up.

We could find each other with our mental connection, but sometimes, we just want to be alone for a while, so we block our minds from each other.

I was sleeping peacefully after I came back to Allen's apartment. I snuggled in next to him. I almost wished I could read his mind. Then, I felt a surge of hot anger in my head. It was Donovan. The more I focused, I realized he was coming after us. And he was getting close, fast. I couldn't pinpoint his location, but I knew he was in the building.

His anger was enough to snap me out of my blissful sleep. "Leave us alone! I fucking hate you!" I screeched. I looked at the door. I felt like he would appear from there. I was going to be ready for him. I was going to rip his fucking head off. It can be reconnected. We all know that... From experience.

I heard a loud crashing sound, like a bunch of glass had been broken. I turned around and Donovan had broken in through Allen's window. I screamed. Donovan was too fast. He grabbed Allen by the back of his head, and through the wall, creating a very big hole in the wall.

I was in complete shock. Allen was just human, he couldn't survive something like that! I ran through the wall and saw Allen laying on the ground, unmoving. I was so scared, I wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

I'm not sure if it was possible, but it felt like I was _literally_ seeing red. Donovan came out of the hole in the wall, still wearing the clothes they borrowed from Allen the other night. Allen's clothes.

I was about to decapitate his ass right here and now, but I heard a raspy voice behind me. "Marissa, wait." Allen, somehow, was still conscious. His nose was bleeding, and he started coughing. His chest heaved and blood spewed from his mouth. "I... Got this," he said, in-between breaths.

Flying through the wall must've given him serious brain damage. Unfortunately, this pissed Donovan off even more. "You think you can fight me? You weak piece of... You know what? Come at me! _I dare you_!"

To my absolute horror, Allen got up, limped a little, and started to run forward.

"NO!" I screamed. I tried to interrupt but Donovan grabbed me and tossed me backwards, slamming me through the wall, into Allen's living room. I got up quickly and ran outside.

Just in time to see Donovan's wolf form grab Allen by his throat, with his monstrous teeth.

 _ **Danielle**_

7 something... 8 something... 9 something. I finally decided to get up. My body was aching all over, not to mention that I had to go work at the park today. On second thought, I'm not going. I'll just call Allen and tell him I'm not going. I unplugged my phone, and it was fully charged. I tried calling Allen three times, but it went straight to voicemail.

I decided to go to his house. We could hang out, and maybe go watch a movie. I got in my car and started driving. For some reason, I had a strange feeling, and or wasn't just because of the summer heat. My head started to hurt and I could feel a burning in my chest.

My vision blurred. Random colors swam behind my eyes. I prayed and prayed, _God, please don't let me crash this car._ Fortunately, Allen's apartment wasn't that far from my house. I pulled into the gated community and stopped dead in my tracks. Allen's second-floor window was broken open. I didn't even try to properly park my car. I ran to the door. Not only was it unlocked, it was slightly open. A huge hole in the wall of his living room led to the outside. I went out of it and found Marissa staring in shock.

"What happened?" I asked her. "What's wrong?" Then I turned, and saw Allen, on the ground limp and lifeless, while the wolf form of Donovan, with glistening blood dripping from his snarling mouth, was standing over him.

Just like her, I was in complete shock. Allen had been my friend since seventh grade. Through middle school, high school, and college right now, we've always been there for each other. And now, there's nothing I could do to help him.

"Rissa..." Donovan, in his wolf form, walked over to his pants, crawled into them awkwardly, and transformed back into his human form. Even in his human form, blood was smeared across his face, on his chest.

"Rissa," he continued."I'm sorry, but you and I both know we're wasting time. We need to find the ones that put a hit out on us, and making friends with _stupid humans_ is just going to slow us down, and make us weak.

"Say it... Say it to my face." I took my eyes off Marissa, who had tears streaming down her face, and turned towards Allen.

I thought he was dead. Marissa thought he was dead. We all thought he was dead. But he was standing up, hunched over slightly, but still standing.

The wound on his neck was still bleeding, but there was a certain look in Allen's eyes like he'd been pumped with drugs and was ready for anything. His body shook as he breathed, and I could feel the seething anger and hatred emanating from him. But earlier... That must have been Donovan's animosity.

He charged at Donovan, running just as fast, (maybe faster?) As Donovan could. Donovan was so surprised he didn't even try to move.

"You should-" And that's all he got to say. Rather than actually hitting him, Allen just rammed into Donovan's right arm really hard. I heard a loud _crack!_ and Donovan's arm looked completely limp.

Instead of showing pain, he just stared at us, dumbfounded."But it's daylight... And the moon cycle ended last night... He shouldn't have become... This doesn't make any sense."

Right after breaking Donovan's arm, Allen had jumped up and over the roof of his apartment. Where was he going? Maybe, he was enjoying this newfound strength. But the face he made when got from up the ground was anything but happy. We all heard, a growling sound, but couldn't pinpoint the location.

That's when I felt the presence of something very large standing behind me. I looked over but saw nothing. I was starting to think I couldn't because my human eyes were too slow. I had to listen to Marissa's next scream and follow a blur of grey to see that a humongous creature, with a Wolf's head and a man's body, had picked Donovan up off the ground.

 **Allen**

 _"Just like Axel,"_ I said to my myself. My brain was moving too fast to process everything. Donovan tried to rip my throat out: Check. His bite gave me werewolf powers: Check. I got taller and turned into some big, hairy, bipedal wolf creature. I was barely able to keep up after that.

All I knew was that I wanted to kill Donovan. I wanted to rip his heart out of his chest. I wanted to cave his skull in, tear him apart, and feed him to stray pit bulls. But I didn't have enough control to do all of this, so my mind settled on the last thing it saw: Axel ripping his arm through Donovan's stomach from the back, reaching up to choke him, and slamming him down.

I'd like to say I executed this attack perfectly. The only difference is that I was now twice the size of Donovan and Axel, so the hole was a lot bigger. I ripped my hand back out of his body, and blood started gushing out. I heard Danielle scream. Or maybe it was Marissa. Maybe it was both. I couldn't tell. I was too occupied to care.

After watching him bleed, I grabbed his head and put him in a headlock. I squeezed. Tighter. And tighter. And tighter. Then finally, I jerked his body upward, creating the biggest, most disgusting cracking sound ever heard. I didn't even know what I broke. His head? Neck? Spine? Either way, his body went lifeless instantly. I dropped him like a broken puppet and turned to face the girls.

Danielle looked like she was afraid I might attack them next. I wanted to speak, but my voice wouldn't work. Marissa's expression was way more mixed. She looked like she was scared, shocked, and angry all at the same time.

She dashed forward, but this time, I was actually able to see her clearly. In fact, she kind of send to be moving slower than usual. If I had realized she was angry at me, I would've been prepared for what she did next.

She jumped up and wrapped her legs around my neck. She was clearly trying to snap my neck, even in my barbarian hulk mode, I could understand that. But it didn't work. Then she stopped trying, jumped off and lashed out again.

This time, her eyes gleamed that creepy wolf style and her claws came out. I covered my left eye just in time, but her claws went right into my right eye, and into my skull. I roared, literally. The way my scream sounded was similar to Barron after his torment. I fell back, and the ground shook after my impact.

I felt like Goliath when I fell. The adrenaline, and whatever the fuck I had become was starting to wear off. With my good eye, I noticed my hand was going back to regular size, and that I was beginning to feel the consequences of all the stuff I had done.

Marissa was holding Donovan in her arms. They were close, for sure. They probably had chemistry way before Danielle and I ever showed up and saved them. Still, for some reason, I instantly got mad. Whose side was she on?! I could've sworn she cared about me, at least a little bit. Was last night just a one night stand? Why did she pretend to care so much about me, and run to him when he got hurt?

She didn't run to me. She let me lay on the ground with me throat ripped open, and didn't lift a finger to help. Screw them. This whole situation doesn't make sense. I need to get out of here. I don't need any of them. I got up, still clutching my right eye, and ran. Even though this beastly form was starting to disappear, I took off, jumped over the other apartment houses in the gated community, and left.


	6. Trip

_**Marissa**_

 _ **"**_ He'll be okay," I kept telling myself. "He'll be okay." Donovan wasn't healing as fast as he usually does. He was still unconscious, and his neck was broken. "We need to find Allen now," Danielle told me. "What was that, and how did it happen to him?" I wanted to answer her, but I had to calm myself down.

I was literally trembling. I can't believe he turned Allen. This was horrible for so many different reasons. One, being Turned by an ancient blood makes you become an ancient blood, so you become more potent and powerful than all of the newer werewolves. This doesn't seem bad, but lots of newer werewolves try to prove themselves or be a _bigger alpha_ by killing you. It's bad enough the vampires want you dead. It's even worse when your own kind wants you dead.

Being a target for the vampires is basically like having a wanted poster with your face on it. They killed the majority of the ancients to become the leaders of everything supernatural. The leaders... Of the _sky_. The worst thing about it is that this means Donovan is his alpha. Donovan can force him to do things, read his mind, and learn all of his personal secrets. I'm speaking from experience.

I wasn't worried about Allen getting lost or hurt, but I was shocked by that transformation. He was an actual _wolf-man_ , not just a massive canine ( _lupine_?) creature. We were told that it takes a whole nother level of thinking to become this because this is how werewolves first were. If he was thinking about murdering Donovan, it looks like he might've pulled it off.

As Donovan's breathing became calm, I tried to reach out to Jamie with my mind. Out of the three of us, he hates the moon the most. It's understandable that he wouldn't want to be around us for a while. We were never friends to begin with, but being anciently blooded and hunted, we bonded through struggle.

 _"Why'd you let Allen run?"_ Jamie's voice popped out of nowhere, the second I tried to concentrate. "It's not like I could actually stop him, you didn't even see how big he was!" Jamie went completely silent. " _Wait... Did you watch this happen?"_

He knows if he lied I would automatically know, so he told the truth. " _Yea. I saw it happen from your point of view."_ I couldn't believe this crap! "Why didn't you do anything!? Why didn't you help?!"

Jamie waited a moment before answering. " _Well, personally, I felt like Donovan deserved it."_ Even though I was mad at him, he was right. Donovan did attack Allen for no reason. He should be grateful to Danielle and Allen for rescuing us. He shouldn't be trying to harm either one of them. Speaking of that, he doesn't pay any attention to Danielle.

 _"Well, what about when Donovan attacked Allen? Why didn't you step in then?"_

Suddenly, Danielle got up and left, dialing a number on her phone. _"I wasn't even watching till after that. The emotions you felt when you saw Allen mangled is what made me start spectating."_

That's why I hate being part of a pack, even one as small as ours. Your whole mind is practically open for everyone in the pack to see. _"Okay. It's time for us to get a new hiding spot. We'll search for Allen after we settle down. Then we'll tell him everything."_ Jamie wasted no time responding to this. " _Good. I think I may have found a place."_

 _ **Allen**_

I was really mad when I ran away, but I still needed to come back. Not because of Marissa, and not because of Danielle. It's because after my body was back to normal, I was completely naked. I waited till it got really dark, and sprinted back home.

It took no time at all, even though I had run deep into the city.

And that's another thing that's weighed on my mind all day. Becoming a werewolf. The way it happened hadn't been pleasant, but I have never felt this good in my entire life. I was stronger. I was faster. Hell, my muscles and body weight must have tripled. This was the best I felt since I exercised for 2 months and finally got away from my family and got a place of my own. It doesn't even come close to this, but then again, my life has been mundane up to this point.

When I arrived at my house, everyone was gone. I expected Danielle to leave, she lives with her parents. But the others... I guess after I attacked Donovan they just disappeared. This day went from good to bad so quick. And I can't even get my revenge on Donovan because I sort of already did it.

I wish I could've consciously did it. I wish I could've fought him head on. I wanted to remember every single punch. But I'll wait. There will always be another time.

I walked in, and immediately noticed the hole in the wall. Damn, I had almost forgotten.

This was bad, plus I still hadn't seen Jacob. It's been a day and a half, and he still hadn't appeared. Both of our rooms were on the second floor, so I went up to his. I jiggled the handle, and it was locked. I was a lot stronger than I was yesterday, so I just used a little bit more force and I broke the door open.

Inside, all of his stuff had been ripped open. His entire room had been trashed, and his clothes torn up. The vampires must have been hunting us the second Axel found us, I realized. At least if they found us again, I could actually help now. I could actually _do something._

I was happy for all of 10 seconds before I realized there was no _us_. The three Stooges were gone, and Danielle was probably going to try to forget all of this. Still, though, I couldn't. I needed to find out what happened to Jacob.

I tried to turn on my phone. It was completely dead. I put it on the charger and sat at the edge of the bed. I didn't feel safe here anymore. It was giving me anxiety, wondering who would attack next and if Axel would return. I decided to stay awake all night.

It was easy to do, because, on top of insomnia, I always waited until about 3 in the morning to work on my projects on the exact day they were due.

Tomorrow, I was just going to wander through the city. I was tired of my surroundings. I felt constricted.

 _ **Danielle**_

 _I felt so lost_. With Allen transforming and running off, I had nothing to do. Plus, Jamie showed up and helped take Donovan away to God knows where. So I was completely left out of the loop, with no one to discuss this with, no one who could relate. I tried calling Allen hundreds of times, even though I knew it was pointless. He wasn't even wearing pants in that strange beast mode, why would he still be carrying his cellphone?

I guess I should go home. My parents don't really care when I stay out late; they know Allen is a nerd, so they trust him more than they trust me. They'd adopt him if they could, and he'd want them to, because he hates his parents, for reasons he's never told me.

I snuck into my house quietly. Everybody in my house is lazy. There were dishes in the sink, and the alarm wasn't even on when I came in. If we got robbed, they'd have nobody to blame but themselves.

My sister's door was closed, as usual. We all close our doors right after dinner. We only open them to get food, take a shower, or to tell everybody to get off the wifi. I walked down the hallway and noticed my parents' door was open. My dad works a graveyard shift, maybe he just got home. Or maybe my mother was about to go meet up with her friends. I walked into the room and cut the lights on.

 _ **Allen**_

 _The world seemed completely different after I became a werewolf._ I can't even walk into a store without noticing what people are... and what aren't people. Other werewolves, vampires, witches and wizards, it was a whole community of them. Every single store. The library. The community center. The park. And the worst part is that looking at them makes my head spin.

I wasted an entire day just trying to get a hold of my new life. In the end, I just decided to go into a bar, drink myself half to death, and see how many people I could fatally wound in a bar fight. The bar was quite nice actually, and for some reason, I couldn't figure out what type of creature the bartender was.

I know he was one. I just didn't know which one he could be. This bar had lots of neon lights, and it had weird installments in the ceiling, like something used to hang from there. This place probably used to be a strip club. It was sparsely populated, and for you simpletons out there, that means it was kind of empty.

Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, except for the girl that was staring at me from across the room. The girl had dark brown hair. She had on a long black dress that had a diagonal red stripe going down it. Her jacket was leather and red, and so were her shoes. Her hair was braided, and she had on long fake eyelashes, so obvious I thought butterflies were eating her eyelids.

I only looked at her for a couple of seconds, and I tried not to make eye contact. Not because she looked pretty, (besides those stupid eyelashes) but because I felt like I shouldn't trust anybody anymore.

"So you're going to stare at me without saying hey?"

What the... She just appeared out of nowhere on my left side! She was all the way on the other side of the room, and I didn't see her move in the least bit! "Are you going to answer me or what?" Damn it, I was thinking so much I forgot she was speaking to me."Oh... Uh, hey." She looked at me with those stupid eyelashes I wanted to rip off her face.

"What brings someone like you to a place like this?" First off, this chick was talking like she knew me. Flirting or not, I didn't like that. Second, what did she mean by that? I don't look like a nerd, in my opinion, I never did. I never wore glasses either.

"I'm looking for somebody," I lied, hoping that would get her off my case. I only came here to drink and hurt a bunch of patrons, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Oh really? 'Cause it seems like something's bothering you." She slid on to the stool next to me and faced my direction. "Nothing's bothering me, it's just-"

"Shut up Wolfy." She said to me. How did she know? "Don't give me that fake look, I know what you are." The bartender was also looking over at us while he cleaned a glass, but when he caught my eye he turned back around. Now it was my turn to ask the questions. "How did you know I'm a werewolf? Why were you staring at me? Why did you come over to talk to me in the first place?" Her eyes widened as I spoke.

"Dang, one question at a time. To answer the first, you smell like a werewolf. I can just sense it by looking at you. In fact, it's so strong, half the people in here have either disappeared or hid in the back to be safe from you." Wow. That's why this place is so empty looking.

"The bartender just lets people hide?" She smiled. "Of course. That's why this place is a hotspot. It's a safe haven for supernatural creatures. Against each other, and against normal people." The way she said normal people gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I was staring at you because I could feel how strong you are from across the room. That feeling... It was just..." She exhaled, and I felt _very_ uncomfortable. "Do you have a point or..."

"Yes actually, I do have a point. I came to talk to you because I need an escort."

I raised my eyebrows. "What do you need an escort for?" She frowned. "I want to go back home and claim what's mine, buts it's not safe out there." And with that, she put on a fake pout and puppy dog eyes. "Please, I just need protection on the way home."

"Go by some condoms then." I was in no mood to go off on an adventure with this freaky girl. I got up, paid my bill, left a nice tip, and started to walk out the door. "Wait! If you don't help me you'll never find Jacob!"

Damn. I stood there for a full minute, weighing my options. I know I haven't said a damn thing about Jacob since I entered the bar. This woman knows something, so I guess I have no choice. "Fine," I told her. "Let's kill two birds with one stone."


	7. Lied

_**Danielle**_

 _ **"**_ I have her. She's not going anywhere." My arms and feet had been tied up. The mysterious man had blindfolded me, knocked me out, and apparently dragged me to another house. The floor was hard and cold. So cold it was making my face burn. I was scared, helpless, and I didn't know what to do.

What had happened to my family? Were they gone before this man came, or... No, I didn't want to think about it. He kicked me in my back, hard. "Tell me your name." He demanded. I stayed silent, almost too scared to speak. "Tell me, and I'll tell you what happened to your siblings." So something did happen to them! I started crying, but I spoke.

"My name... Is Julia." There's no way he could tell I was lying, especially since I was crying. "Well, Julia, I put a little hex on your brother and sister. They are still home, asleep in their little rooms, unaware that anything is amiss. They'll be that way till your parents get home. After that, the hex will spread to them and they'll forget you. At least, for a little while."

 _ **Allen**_

 _ **"**_ I want a full explanation before I agree to help you," I told the bargirl. "First, what's your name?"

"Samantha." She told me without hesitation.

"I'll try to tell you quickly because we really need to hurry. I come from a rich family... Sort of. My family knows lots of magic, and our whole lives have been surrounded by everything we wanted. But it's all a facade."

Samantha's face got serious. "Using magic for wealth and power puts a curse on you and your entire family. My family is so greedy, they've been doing it for the past nine generations."

"Damn," I said. Samantha smiled, probably because I looked so surprised. "Exactly. And the curse is so strong, that it's going to start killing us. Them." She corrected herself as if she's figured out how to escape it.

"My father died a few months ago from the curse. But before he died, I was taken out of his will, so I can't receive my inheritance."

After hearing that, she sounded just as selfish as her family is. "So this whole trip is just to claim what you think is rightfully yours?" Samantha looked around the bar, and turned around, irritated. "No. To break the curse, I have to go home, and find the one genuine thing that our family did not use magic to get."

"Will that be hard?"

She laughed, and the bartender looked over again. "The house and almost everything in it besides us was created instantaneously."

"Sounds like it'll take a while."

"It won't because I have an idea of what it might be."

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Then I'll burn the house down. Whatever's still shining through all the fake crap will break the curse, If it had no magical qualities the type of spell I use won't hurt it.

It seems like she thought this through. "But what do you need my protection for?"

"I'm not welcome back home, obviously. They hate me because I didn't want to fall in love just for power and because I ran from them. They'll try to kill me, so I need _a big, tough, strong man to protect me." Sh_ e tried to use a seductive voice in the last sentence, like some horny damsel in distress.

"What's in it for me?" I asked. "I'll help you find Jacob."

"How the hell do you know Jacob anyway?" I demanded. "I read your mind, but only a little bit," she said it quickly, clearly scared that might anger me. "I knew that your friend was missing, and I thought you might want my tracking skills to help find him."

"Well, that's not good enough." I stood up again. She didn't know as much as I first thought. I doubt I need her or her magic, to find him. Sniffing his shirt should help me find him, now that I was some werewolf thing.

"I don't really benefit from helping you, so I'm going to find Jacob myself." This time, I actually left the bar. I was outside, halfway down the street, and she just materialized in blue smoke right in front of me.

She grabbed my shirt and started to beg.

"Please! If you help me... I'll teach you magic!"

 _ **Jamie**_

Donovan had finally woken up, though I can't say I actually cared. The hole in his chest had closed, but there was a huge purple blotch surrounding it. Since Donovan was incapacitated and Marissa was his nurse, it was my job to seek clothes for us. I already had put on dark black jeans with a purple polo shirt after our full moon Hunt, but I decided to get more for myself anyway. Our clothes rip often.

I walked into a mall and went into one of several clothing stores. The whole mall was mostly empty. Maybe it was because I came so early. I picked out a couple of black t-shirts, a button down shirt for Donovan, and long-sleeved green shirt for Marissa. Then I walked up to the cashier. "Hi, how are you today?" She asked me. Her uniform was an ugly white and blue collard shirt with a matching hat.

I didn't answer her question. I tapped into my wolf side, and when it felt like my eyes had changed, I blinked and said, " _Thank you. I don't need a receipt."_ Her head tilted, and she blinked. It looked like she almost dozed off. "You're welcome... Are you... Are you sure you don't need a receipt?"

" _Yes, I'm sure. Thank you though_." I left the mall just as soon as I came, and went back to the hotel we were staying in. I was greeted by a short man at the front desk as I walked past it. "Sir, did you sign in?"

" _Good morning, I was just shopping_ ," I said, using the same mesmerizing trick I did at the mall. There was no reason to try to keep up an actual conversation. I didn't wait for his reply.

Once I got inside the room, I tossed them their clothes."Finally," Marissa replied, and started to pull off the shirt she had taken from Allen. "Hey!" I screamed. "Wha...? Oh. I'm sorry, Jamie." All the stuff we've been through, I think she's had it the worst. Lycanthropy has changed her completely.

I remember her being shy and timid. Now she's so used to our wolf dilemma that she's really open about her body. Too open, in fact. When she first became a wolf in front of us she didn't even hesitate to rip our eyes out. And now, I had to stop her from giving little Allen the show of his life when she was about to hop out the lake.

Or maybe she did give him the show of his life when we returned from the full moon Hunt. Whatever. I honestly don't care, but I try hard not to think about things like that. She's basically a sister to me. Donovan however, wasn't a brother in the least bit.

Probably because we both could be considered the Alpha in our pack. He may have rounded us up, and he may have led us through tough times, but we all know that I'm stronger than him.

The first time we fought Barron... We all remember it vividly. He tried to be the hero. He tried to lead. When Barron ripped him in half it was my time to come to the rescue. I did what he couldn't, and he's been salty about it ever since.

"Hey, are you ready? It's time to track down Allen."

Donovan was standing, fully clothed. He still didn't look a hundred percent, but he was ready to get moving. So was Marissa.

"I think we should get Danielle to come with us. She knows him well, so she could probably anticipate where he'd go."

 _ **Allen**_

We were driving around in a red Jaguar. Samantha was reapplying her makeup.

"Hey," I started to ask her. "You must not be very good at magic." She looked offended. "What makes you say that?" I was at me so intensely I was tempted to look at her, but I had to keep my eyes on the road.

"I say it because, first of all, if you were so good at magic, why don't you just poof us there? And second, you obviously screwed up a spell, cause now you have butterfly wings sprouting from your eyelashes.

That made her laugh. She playfully punched my arm. "Shut up. And do your research, it's too dangerous to just poof us there. They'd sense us before we even appeared, and the next thing you know we're burning alive right where we stand."

Well, _that_ was comforting. "Aww, come on, don't look like that. It's gonna be easy, I promise. Look, I know it's late, why don't we take a break at a hotel? With a flick of her wrist, I was flung forward, out of the car, and onto... A bed?! I thought I was having a heart attack. I was hyperventilating, and I couldn't get my breath under control. I looked around, my chest starting to spasm, and we appeared to be in a hotel room.

I rolled on my back, and saw Samantha on the side of me, in pretty red babydoll lingerie. She had a smile on her face, but it's started to melt as she watched me have a semi asthma attack. "What's wrong with you?" She asked. "What type of question is that?!" I almost screamed. "You just threw me out of a car!" This whole thing seemed amusing to her.

"Let get this straight wolf boy. I didn't _throw you._ I just teleported us to this hotel, because it's only 20 minutes away from my house. And second, just chill. I thought we could rest before we wrecked my house.

"Okay." My heartbeat was almost back to normal. "But what happened to the car I was driving?" She waved her hand again, and this time she made an oval-shaped bubble.

It showed the car that I was just driving, careening off course and smashing into a pump at a gas station. The explosion made me jump, and we could clearly hear the screaming and destruction too. I looked at the scene in horror. "Look what you've..."

"Hush." She interrupted me. She held her palm towards the oval and the scene reversed. Wait no, it didn't just reverse.

After it sort of reminded to before the car crashed, the car moved backward and pulled up to the gas pump, instead of colliding with it. Then, a man stepped out and looked confused. He was holding and shaking his head. He started checking his car for bumps and scratches, and then he walked into the store.

That dude completely surprised me. "Umm, who the heck is that, and where did he come from?" For some reason, she felt the need to scoot closer to me to answer the question. "He's one of the few guys in the bar that you didn't run off. Don't feel bad about it though. He was passed out drunk when you entered and he was passed out drunk when we left. I just took his keys, gave them to you, and we were on our way."

I don't see how this girl complained about her family being greedy and corrupt. They clearly have rubbed off on her. She has no morals whatsoever. That being said, I still found her interesting. She was pretty and all, but the fact that she said she could teach me magic... That would be a great backup in case I fought against someone stronger than my werewolf form. Or in case I fought against someone or several people that betrayed me. Like Marissa.

"Sam?" Her eyes literally twinkled when I said that, she must like the nickname. "What?"

"What does your house look like?"

"It looks like two things. The first is A normal, two-story house, in a big neighborhood. The second is a four-story mansion, and all those houses that surrounded it are completely different things. A garden, a lake, golf course, etc. The people and cars that come from those houses are all a mirage."

I wish she would have shown me in the oval bubble. "But let's not worry about that," she climbed on top of me and stared into my deeply into my eyes. "Why do you like me?" I blurted out by accident. God, I hate myself. "Because I see things about you that you don't even know," She responded. "I can't wait to teach you _real magic._ " She started to slowly kiss me, and then undid her bra. She bit my lip softly and waited till I got her straps off. I guess we weren't going to get that much sleep after all.


	8. Surprised

_**Allen**_

 _"It's time to wake up Allen. Hurry."_ I yawned. That was the best sleep I'd had in a long time. Maybe because I've been getting up early all summer to volunteer at the park.

Whatever the case may be, laying here with Samantha reminded me of Marissa. Way too much. In fact, it worried me.

"Hey, Samantha?"

No response.

"Have you ever felt like something bad was about to happen? Sort of like, almost deja vu, but not really?"

I turned over on my side, expecting to see her smile with a sexy look in her eyes, but she was gone. "Um, where are you? No response. I raised my shirt, and looked at my chest. No new scars, so she hadn't stolen my kidneys. Yet. But where did she go?

"Allen, we need to start going to my house immediately."

I glanced around quickly. "Where the hell are you?" I looked in the bathroom, she wasn't there. I looked under the beds. She wasn't there. "I'm inside you." She whispered. "But let me explain-"

"AHH!" My arms started to tremble, and I started clutching and shaking my clothes, as if I could shake her off somehow.

"What the hell!?"

In the midst of my hissy fit, I felt a warmth on my shoulder, as if she was trying to comfort me somehow.

"Calm down,"she said in her sultry voice. "After last night, I thought it would be good to switch roles, am I right?" She laughed.

"WHAT?!"

"Okay, okay, okay, I went to far. I'm sorry."

It didn't sound like she was sorry. "Look, I only did this because I sensed danger. My family knows we're coming, I don't know how they found out, but they know.

As soon as I woke up, I could tell. Luckily, it seems they've employed normal humans to get rid of us, instead of some magical creature. I wrapped my arms around you, murmured a quick spell, and tried to wake you up."

I couldn't believe this crap."So I'm your human shield, huh?" I was indignant. "She must have sensed my anger, because she tried to console me. "Listen, this won't last long. You need to hurry to my house quickly. I'll guide you."

I listened, but made no motion to move.

"Come on! We need to hurry!"

I still refused to move.

"What do you want me to do? Apologize?" She asked.

"I WANT YOU TO GET OUT OF ME!" I screamed. This girl was insane!

"I told you, I'm hiding because of people that are coming for us! I'm not leaving until... Oh no! Damn it Allen! They're here!"

I didn't understand what she was talking about until I heard the loud ass pounding at the door five seconds later.

"This is the police! OPEN UP"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I started to hide under the bed. " What the hell do you think you're doing?" Samantha scolded me. "Stand up, run, or fight them! Do something!" This chick is a hypocrite. She was literally hiding inside of me, and she was trying to tell me to stand up to them. Screw her.

Fortunately, this was a really nice hotel room. It had a balcony that overlooked the pool. Even if I didn't have wolf powers, Landing in the pool should be easy. I could survive a drop from the 47th floor of a hotel, right?

I started to run for it the moment they busted the door open. I wished I heeded Sam's warning and got out sooner. Right before I could jump, the rapid fire busted my eardrums, and my back was peppered with bullets. My adrenaline must have filled my senses, because at first the bullets felt like really hard punches. Then I started to feel trickle down my back and I became aware of but the pain. It felt like my skin was melting, and I dropped to the ground.

I started to assume that my powers were similar to the Hulk's, because when I looked at my hand, it was changing into the wolf form I had used against Donovan. This was a good thing, because apparently, I was hard to kill. I just didn't know if I could transform into it willingly yet.

"Get back on the ground, now!" A different officer said as I started to get up. They shot me more, again and again, but the more the wolf form took over, the less I felt it. Finally, I could stand up fully and turn around to see them. There were six, all dressed in there black gear, pointing there weapons at me. They looked more like a SWAT team than regular police officers.

But now, I stood over them. Maybe eight or nine feet, I couldn't tell. I grabbed the leftmost one by his head and threw him into the flat screen TV. I punched the one in the middle, and he went flying back through the door they had just busted open.

I raised my right arm, and I could feel my claws extending. I was about to give the remaining police a couple of split ends, but a flashy red aura surrounded my arm.

"We need to get _away fro_ m them. Do not kill them. Let's go, Allen. We have bigger enemies than them."

She was right. I lowered my arm, and the red aura disappeared. I ran to the window and jumped.

When I landed I noticed two things. One, I was human again, because I landed beside the pool, on my hands and feet. Two, I had clothes on. My clothes should've been ripped to shreds, but they were perfectly fine. Apparently, Sam knew what I was thinking. "Don't worry. As long as I'm with you, you'll never lose your clothes when you turn into _My Big Bad Wolf." She'_ s said my, so I guess she thinks she owns me now. But this taught me a lesson. Whenever I sleep with a girl, I'm running away the _moment_ they fall asleep. I had two disasters two days in a row. I _refuse_ to continue this streak.

 _ **Jamie**_

 _ **"**_ Allen's gonna kill us" Marissa said sadly. We had searched Allen's apartment. Everything was the same. The furniture. The clothes. The glass. The blood. The hole in the wall. Everything. After we picked up Danielle's scent on some of Allen's clothes, we followed the scent to her house. Marissa was aggravated the whole time.

"I'm just saying, why the hell did most of his clothes have her scent on them? I thought they were just friends. It just doesn't seem right, because he paid her no attention in the bunker."

We were almost at Danielle's house, and I was almost fed up with Marissa's suspicions. "Wait, maybe me imprinting on him made him neglect her! I feel so bad..."

"Then tell him to get back together with her," I interjected.

"Hell no." She replied.

"Okay then. This conversation is pointless."

Donovan inhaled and exhaled loudly. "We're here."

Somehow, Danielle's house was smaller and less impressive than Allen's apartment.

Donovan, who has no respect for anyone, walked up to the door, broke the handle, and was about to walk in before we stopped him.

"You can't just do that!" I told him.

"She has a family!" Marissa agreed.

"Fine," Donovan said. He had a tired lazy look in his face, like this whole thing was just a boring chore.

He rang the doorbell and we waited. I hoped that Danielle's family wouldn't notice the doorknob was broken. A pretty hispanic woman opened the door. "Hello, who are you?"

"We are friends of Danielle," Donovan spoke first. "We were wondering if... She wanted to come to the movies with us."

The lady frowned. "Why would your friend Danielle be here?"

We all took a step back a bit. This was Danielle's house, it had to be. We could smell her all over it. Plus, this woman looked like her a little bit. Her eyes, her nose... Wait a second. Her eyes had a faint green light on them, just barely noticeable.

" _She's been mesmerized."_ I told the others through our mental link. " _They've already started to hunt Allen and Danielle, and they must've started with her family"_

 _"_ Oh I'm so sorry," I laughed a fake laugh. "This must be the wrong house. I'm sorry we troubled you."

"It was no trouble at all sweetie," she said, and sounded completely sincere. She moved to close the door, and looked at the handle.

" _Tsk, tsk, tsk_ ," she said. "My husband must've broken this when he came in last night."

 _ **Allen**_

We approached the neighborhood, and my imagination was way off. It was a cul-de-sac, with Sam's house probably on the end, the neighborhood actually looked nice. There wasn't any litter, and it was really peaceful. Probably because none of the people in these neighboring houses were real.

Running here was a great exercise. Sam agreed with me, which was annoying, because this was probably like an extra long piggy back ride for her. I was on the sidewalk, and I started to walk the path up to the house, and Sam stopped me with the red aura. "No go in the street, she advised. "It's too dangerous to get close to these houses." Right after she said that she made me jump into the middle of the street, as a black, javelin looking weapon soared past where I was first standing and impaled itself into the stop sign.

"Thanks, but I don't like it when you control me." The aura dissipated. "Fine. Get killed if you want to." Several people came out of their houses. I couldn't tell if they were looking at me at first. Two went to check their mail. One turned his spiker sprinkler on. Four hopped into their cars.

"Sam, they seem so normal, are you sur-"

"Move idiot! MOVE!" Simultaneously, the two that checked their mail and the one that cut on his sprinklers looked at me, pulled out guns and started shooting. I was in the middle of the goddamn street, nothing to hide behind, nothing to shield myself.

I got shot in my side twice, another went into my right kneecap, another hit my foot.

I stupidly put my hands up as if that could stop anything. I didn't know who to run forward to. I didn't know who to strike first.

Then, one caught me in the throat. That's when Sam decided to engage. She took control again, and this time, the fiery red surrounded my entire body. She raised my arms into the air, and screamed.

It wasn't my human scream. It wasn't a feminine scream. It was the scream of the giant wolf man form. She made my body do the transformation faster than both of the first two times. She raised her arms (my arms) to them, and stopped all of the bullets in the air. They stayed there, frozen. It made the fake people stop shooting.

They were probably trying to think of another strategy, but she took control of the guns too. A red aura grabbed them, and made them fire out the rest of their ammunition. She clapped my arms together, bringing all the bullets in one place. The three fake people started to grab weapons. Two of the ripped there mailboxes out the ground, the other grabbed his watering hose... With his mind? I guess? Because it rose, and pointed towards me like a serpent.

That's when I noticed what the other fake people were doing. All four cars turned on at once. They pulled out in unison and started circling me. Us. But Sam paid them no attention. She thrust my right hand out, and all of the bullets, every single one, went flying towards one of the mailbox people. Each one flew through his head, and he staggered backwards and fell. The sound was disgusting. The same happened to the next mailbox man. But the guy with the hose... He tried to defend against it. The hose lashed back and forward, trying to deflect the bullets. I guess it forgot it was a hose. The bullets flew right threw the hose and took down the fake man.

After that, Sam abandoned the bullets and took a head-on approach. She kicked the car in front of us and ruined their death circle. It flipped, over and over till it almost hit the main house, the one at the end of the cul-de-sac. It was stopped abruptly, frozen in midair. A gray light creeped from the edges of the car, and then it folded in on itself, sounded like a car getting compacted.

This shocked Sam too, because she stopped moving to gawk at the scene. One of the cars ruined the moment by ramming me from the back. Even in the wolf man form, that crushed my ankles. I was on the hood of the car, and it didn't stop. It kept driving full speed, towards the house at the end.

I wiggled my fingers, and realized I had control of my body again.

I used my arms to do a flip and landed behind the car. My ankles were still to injured, however, so instead of a decent landing, I dropped to my knees. The run away car crashed into the house, ruining it's mirage. It crashed into the far left side, and instantly, all the other cars and houses had gray light around them. Everything started to fold in on itself, except for the true house. I reverted back to my human form, and when I looked up, Sam was back holding out her hand to help me up.

"Come on. Let's go meet my family."


	9. Bitter Memory

_**Allen**_

We walked up to the doorstep. I saw that Sam was biting her lip, and shaking a little.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Duh, I'm fine," she didn't sound fine.

"Then open the door."

"Hell no, you do it."

"But it's _your_ house. I don't want to get hexed by something."

She looked at me, and I saw that she was about to cry. "Okay," she said, and slowly reached for the door.

That made me change my mind. I softly nudged her hand out of the way and reached for the doorknob. It caught flame and burned my hand, but I didn't let go. It probably wouldn't have hurt Sam, but just stepping into this house seemed to be painful for her.

I broke the knob and forced the door open. I didn't bust it open and make the door swing, I just broke the handle and opened it softly.

I couldn't even see inside yet. It appeared to be completely black. "We won't be able to see anything until we're inside. I let go of the door, my hand red and raw. She took hold of it and healed it instantly. "Let's go inside." She said, and we walked in together.

 _ **Donovan**_

"I'm sick of this. First, Allen disappears, then Danielle does too. Do you think Allen took her?" Both Jamie and Marissa gave me a stupid look. "That's dumb. If he took her, we'd still be able to smell her. And why would he take her I'd they're best friends?"

What Marissa said sort of makes sense, but I don't care. I just want to put the bastard in his place.

"Let's not forget," Jamie interrupted, "That there was a hex on Danielle's mother. Even though Allen has werewolf powers he'd never be able to do that." We were just sitting in the park, and it was almost night. We could go back to the hotel, but Allen could be in danger right now.

Or he could be a very valuable asset to us.

"We need to find him, and gauge how strong he is," Jamie said, speaking like a wise old trainer. Marissa smiled at this.

"He kicked Donovan's ass so he must be at least on our lev-"

"Shut up," I growled. "God, I hate you."

"I didn't ask to be turned by you, you stupid freak."

"Say another word and I'll-"

The ground erupted between us. It knocked us down and pushed them apart. Jamie stood on the mound of dirt, his eyes glowing orange. "I'm getting really tired of you two arguing." He growled.

 _ **Allen**_

Walking into her house was like turning a light on after your eyes have been adjusting to the darkness for hours. I was blinded immediately. Sam had a strong grip on my right hand, so I was forced to use my left arm to shield my eyes.

"Don't move." I heard a female voice say. When my eyes finally adjusted, it wasn't even bright in the house! We were standing in. Short, but wide hallway, with a very high ceiling. I could see the balcony above, and on the ceiling was a glass chandelier speckled with gold dots and zig zags.

The woman that spoke to us was tall. She had brown hair, and the colors of her eye seemed to be constantly changing from gray to completely white. She had brown hair like Samantha, and she wore all black. She had on a black choker, black earrings shaped like broken hearts and long black gloves. I thought she was wearing a dress, but it was a top and a long skirt, and they both had interesting design choices. The cuts and openings on her outfit were very close to being inappropriate, and she had on long fishnet stockings to match.

I take back what I said earlier because as I stared at her up and down, I noticed she had very long heels on. She wasn't as tall as I thought she was.

"Sam, who is this?" Samantha took a deep breath. "This is my younger sister."

"Why does she look older than you?" I whispered.

"Because of all that damn _makeup_." She said, louder than I would've expected.

"I have one more question," I told her.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Why does she look like a dominatrix?"

Sam squeezed my hand so hard I heard my bones break.

Sam's sister smiled. "It's about time you got a man, sis. Is he rich? You'd better hope so." Or you'd better lie and say he is."

"Shut up Donna. You know why I'm here."

The smile on Donna's face evaporated.

"How could you... And you _know_ mom just lost Dad!"

"We lost Dad because of the _curse!"_ Sam pleaded. "And the curse is changing, making different things happen. Our Grandad was 128 when he died from the curse. Dad was only 59!"

I wasn't sure I heard that right. 128? 59? I know her family had magic, but it's still hard for me to believe her father died that soon from the curse since her grandfather lived way beyond most people's lifespan.

"Next thing you know, you might die before you hit 40!"

"What do you mean I might die?! There's no way you're escaping the curse either, bitch!" They had gotten closer to each other, way too close. I wasn't sure if they would start pulling hair or throwing fire, so I decided to step in. I grabbed each of them by their shoulder and tried to separate them. The look Donna gave me made me feel like I was trying to disarm a bomb with 4 seconds left. Thankfully, she didn't kill me.

But Samantha was making the situation worse. "I've been reading about the curse Donna," she said calmly. "It's gonna bounce around to torture us as much as possible. We can't even be a hundred percent sure that mom is next. It could be you too."

Donna reacted faster than I could have. She slapped Sam and made her fall back on the floor. "Ha! I knew it!" Samantha cried. "I can see it in your eyes, I can feel it in your anger, you're already next aren't you? Have you told mom that it's you? Have you told mom that our family's name is going to die with you because there's no one else to carry on our name?"

A dark shadow was emanating from Donna, creeping up the walls. The house shuddered, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe by myself. I looked at Donna, think she was choking me but she wasn't. Her eyes started dripping black tears. Black webs started to appear over her skin, and that's when I noticed it. When she inhaled, I inhaled. When she exhaled, so did I. I couldn't control my breathing because she was controlling it. She bit her lip, and black blood started to flow from my lip.

My body was motionless, I was completely rooted to the spot. Samantha looked like this wasn't happening to her, because she was hyperventilating like a maniac, while I was forced to take the same slow, shallow, sickly breaths that Donna was taking. I might as well have been suffocating.

"S... Sam," Donna stammered, through gritted teeth. "Our family name _will not die._ " Then, she chose to look directly at me, and it seemed like I couldn't breathe at all.

"Because _we have you._ " She scattered into the dark, visible wind, and it flew in every direction it could have.

"I'm guessing she's not dead." I helped Sam up. She looked at me. "No, she isn't. But the stuff I said made the curse take her faster."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because she was damned anyway. Donna is controlled by my mother, and my mother is controlled by avarice. We'd probably have to kill her just to complete my mission."

We walked into the living room, and when I looked up I saw that it wasn't one chandelier, there were dozens of them, all hanging from the ceiling. Why they needed so many was strange to me because the room wasn't as bright as you'd expect.

I looked back down into the living room, which was a dazzling display of white, black, and red.

The couch was long, curved, and white, with black and red pillows. The entire floor was covered in black carpet, but there was a massive decorative red carpet on top of it. It had intricate designs and looked expensive. There was a huge glass table in the center, and it made the whole house come together.

I didn't want to step on anything. I didn't want to sit anywhere. Hell, I felt too poor to even be standing in this house. I had to get a roommate just to afford an apartment. And for all I know, he could be dead right now, which means I might soon be evicted, and subsequently homeless. Because I'd never, ever, for as long as I live, return to my parents' house.

"Damn it, I should have asked Donna if our mother was home." Said Sam, thinking out loud. "If we run into her, we'd have some trouble. We need to go upstairs, that's where all of our bedrooms are."

"Really? How did you ever sneak out?"

As a response, she turned to me, gave me the middle finger, set it on fire, and made her whole arm disappear.

"Ah, magic. I forgot."

"Of course you did." She rolled her eyes.

She stepped on to the first step, and all the chandeliers went off. The fire stopped roaring and I thought I saw something moving in the shadows. I turned all the way around, my back touching Samantha's, and tried to see if I actually saw movement in the darkness.

"LEAVE!" Donna screamed. "The last thing mom wants to see is you!" This time, I heard a growl, so I know something was in the darkness. I kept my guard up, but nothing attacked me.

"Lifting the curse will set us all free! Why can't you realize that?!"

A white light started to light up the room, but it didn't come from the chandeliers. It came from the floor. Suddenly, I could see almost everything in the room, I just couldn't see the details of everything. I looked closely and saw that the thing that was growing at me was short... And humanoid.

I would've moved closer to it, but I heard Sam gasp. I turned around, and the black, cursed Donna had grabbed her by her throat and was hovering in the air. "Don't you see, Sam?" Donna's voice was cracking.

"The damage that's been done isn't enough. We will still pay penance for our crimes." Lifting the curse will probably take our powers away." Donna's cries were so emotional I felt it in my soul.

"What would you rather have, your powers, or your life?" Sam asked her. Donna choked back a sob. "What's the difference? I'm on the verge of losing both."

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Mother is hurting! This house, our belongings, _this_ gives her phone of mind! _This is her happy place!"_

 _"No Donna! This house is the reason we're cursed! This house is the reason Dad died! It's the reason you can't find a man_!"

The white light stopped.

The humanoid creature disappeared.

The chandeliers turned back on. The fireplace started.

Donna threw Samantha onto the glass table. It shattered, and Donna disappeared again.

I ran towards Samantha's lifeless body.

"Please be okay," I whispered, "Please be okay."

She opened her eyes and smiled at me.

"Help me up." I didn't just offer her my hand this time. I put my left arm under her back and my right arm under her legs. I picked her up, and I carried her up the steps. "I'm a terrible bodyguard. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Without you, I wouldn't have made it to the front door."

I felt like she was talking about more than just beating the fake people. I think she needed emotional support to make it this far.

"Which room? I asked as I got up the steps. "The one on the left," Sam told me. I let go of her legs for a second to open the door. I nudged it the rest of the way with my foot. Inside, there was an old woman, with tears falling down her face. She had a big white vanity mirror on her dresser, and she was currently trying on different necklaces. I stopped at the door and watched her. It didn't seem like she noticed me.

After she tried on a few necklaces she put her hands up to her face and cried. Sam whispered for me to put her down. I did it immediately, and I noticed I felt something wet. " _Did she piss herself?"_ I thought. I looked at my hands and saw they were streaked with blood. "The glass," I realized. She must've gotten cut somewhere. I looked at her as she walked over to her mother. Her back was wet, damp with the red substance. It was so much you couldn't even pinpoint where her wound was. She had a small limp, but otherwise, she didn't seem that hurt.

"Momma, please listen to-"

"I know baby I know." Her mother's voice was filled with sadness, even more than Donna's.

"You were right," her mother continued. "You've always been right." Her mother opened up the drawer again, shuffled her hand through all of the jewelry, and slammed it, so hard that the vanity mirror cracked. When she opened it again, there was just one necklace.

A pretty silver necklace with a pendant on the end. The pendant was a glass barrel, with silver designs on the top and bottom. It looked like it could be opened.

Her mother handed it to her. "There's no reason to hold on to all the material objects in this world. We can't take anything with us, but we cherish, we should pass on to those we love, and keep those memories alive."

Samantha started crying too. "Most people never realize the truth about the curse until it's their time to go."

"It's okay baby." She said as she pulled Sam close to her. "I'm happier this way. At least I did realize it, unlike your father. He was greedy all the way to his grave. But I still love him."

Samantha cried more, and Donna materialized out of nowhere. She ran to them and hugged them tightly. I felt left out, so I moved closer, but I didn't join in.

"Okay, are you ready?" Sam's mother asked.

"Yeah." Sam stood up and walked past me. Donna pushed me towards her a little, and I almost hit her, but when I turned around, she smiled. I guess she wanted me to be with Samantha.

 _ **Samantha**_

"This is it. I'm finally going to free us." I thought as I walked forward. I made a huge mirror materialize in front of us. Donna, Allen, and my mother were all in the corner by the mirror. I looked back, still crying, but smiling too, and got ready to put the necklace on my neck. The only thing in this house, that wasn't created by magic. A symbol of my great grandfather's love for my great-grandmother.

I was about to clasp it around my neck when a hand touched my shoulder.

"Now now, baby girl. Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"


	10. Regret

_**Samantha**_

I turned around, and my dad, was standing behind me. He looked... young. Better than I'd seen him in years. His clothes, the clean, white, buttoned down shirt had the sleeves rolled up. His black pants had perfect creases, and he had a mysterious red gem on his belt buckle.

"You...Dad... you died." I was scared and in shock. The last time I'd seen him, we were fighting with magic. I was fighting for my freedom, my right to leave and save myself from the curse. I won, but only because the curse just started to take its toll on him.

"I hate you." He snarled. "You're not my daughter. Come back, and I'll kill you."

He died 6 months after that encounter. I heard he died of a heart attack. But here he was, living and breathing, looking younger than he ever did during my lifetime.

"Baby, give me the necklace." He asked, raising his hand to me. "No," I regained my voice, and started to feel anger creeping up my throat. "Why do you want this damn necklace? Why the hell are you still alive?!"

"Now don't you raise your voice at me. Girl give me that necklace. It's old. Worn out. There's better ones in momma's dresser. Ask her to get you a better one."

He made a grab for the necklace. I snatched my hand back, and let the mirror fade away. It was taking too much energy to keep it up, especially since Donna already wounded me. I moved out the way, and Allen moved fast, getting in-between me and my father.

"She wants the necklace, let her keep the necklace." Allen's voice was firm, and I was sure he was trying to make up for letting Donna hurt me. My dad's face went from an irritated frown to a fit of fury.

"BOY YOU BETTER GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!" he roared. He punched Allen and he went flying. Donna, for some reason, caught Allen, and glared at our father.

"Sam, he is _NOT_ our father! He's nothing but a manifestation of the curse, trying to hold us forever!"

It was unbelievable how fast she had changed her perspective. Maybe, seeing our Mother's pain made her realize I was right.

I had no time to think about it, because our father/the curse grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me against the wall. I almost blacked out from the pain.

I had almost no magic left in me. Mostly because I was hiding within Allen.

I thought I was about to be killed, but he just forced my hand open, and took the necklace. "Good girl," he cackled. This is all I needed. He burst into a flash of smoke, and it folded in on itself until nothing remained.

"Damn it!" I screamed. That was it only chance!" I collapsed to my knees and sobbed. We were all doomed. There's nothing else I could do.

Donna came to comfort me, and so did Allen. He was rubbing his jaw, trying to put it back in place, I guess? Anyway, he popped his neck and squatted down to be face to face with me. "That bastard can throw a punch." He said.

Donna wiped the blood from his busted lip and healed his face. "You can take a punch too," she said, smiling at him. He sort of ignored her, and started looking around.

"Sam, What did you tell me about this house?" I didn't understand why he was bringing this up. "I said that everything in it was made by the curse and our family's greed."

"Exactly." He said.

"Now I have another question. Besides the cul-de-sac outside, can the magic leave this house?"

I was completely lost. "Al, what does this have to do with-"

"I get it!" Donna shrieked, laughing. She shook his shoulders and called him a genius. He looked scared for his life.

"Ok, ok," I said, trying to free him from my dying, demon looking sister. "Anybody going to tell me what's going on?"

Allen jumped up, ecstatic. He was so happy he forgot about my injuries. He lifted me up quickly and expected me to stand on my feet, but my legs buckled as soon as I had to hold my own. Both and him made quick movements to grab me, so I didn't fall again.

"The cursed version of our father didn't leave the house, because it can't. He also can't destroy the necklace, because it's the only real physical thing in the house the wasn't made me with magic, excluding us of course." Donna explained.

"Did you forget plan B Sammy?" He said."What happened to burn this place and finding the necklace through the ashes?"

That made me smile.

"Don't ever call me Sammy."

"Don't ever call me Al."

 _ **Danielle**_

I don't know how long they had me kidnapped, and I don't know how long I slept. When I woke up, I was alone, at the edge of the forest in the park, and I could see red and blue lights flashing. " _My family must've filed a police report," I thought. "The kidnappers must have gotten caught, and ditched me right here."_

I sighed a sweet relief and thanked God I hadn't been harmed.

It was sunny out, with big white clouds in the sky. I'm sure people would've been flying kites in this area if the police weren't here. I still had a bad feeling in my stomach, but that was probably because I haven't eaten in a long time. My stomach growled in agreement. I was so hungry, I felt like I just to throw up.

I started to walk slowly to a police officer because I wasn't sure if my stomach could handle running. It was hard to tell far away, (or maybe Allen was right and I need glasses) but it seemed like the police officer was already staring at me. I walked another ten, twenty feet, and yes, he definitely was. But he wasn't moving to help me, even though I'm sure I looked like hell.

I didn't like his deadpan stare, it made me uneasy. Instead of seeking his help I kind of wanted to just find my own way home. Then, when I was a couple of yards away from his car, he did it. He put his walkie-talkie up to his face and said something. During that whole time, he didn't take his eyes off me once.

I stopped moving forward. In fact, I took a step back. I didn't trust this guy. I heard several little screeching sounds, and I looked up. At first glance, I thought it was a group of birds flying together, but the closer they got, I realized it was a swarm of bats, heading right towards me.

I had flashbacks of Axel turning into a bat, and running away from us. Without hesitation, I turned and ran as fast as I could into the woods. What if it actually was Axel doing this? Why was he coming for me? Did that mean he had Allen already? I tried to push these thoughts out of my mind. I risked looking back, and I saw that the bats were close. Too close. The police officer and his car were gone, however, and that made me paranoid. I guess I couldn't trust anything anymore.

Now, I was starting to hear footsteps chasing me. Not one, not two, but _three_ people were right on my tail. I looked back, and the one directly behind me had on a Duck Dynasty type of jacket, and gray jeans. The one to the right had on a blue tank top, black jacket, and shorts. Both had bloody eyes.

I was too scared to look to the left. Their footsteps were so loud, I was sure whatever it was would be gigantic.

That's when I realized that these vampires, (at least the two that I looked at) were running their fastest, and they weren't catching me. What happened to me? I don't remember ever getting attacked and mangled like Allen did. I remembered with horror that they might have done something to me when they kidnapped me.

I let my fear get the best of me. I slowed down a little, and the man on the right punched me right in my jaw, sending me flying into a tree. Instead, of jaw and neck being completely broken, the tree starting making cracking sounds. I hopped up quickly, trying not to hey caught, and out of the corner of my eye I see the tree fall and crush the big guy on the left.

But I survived it. Seeing how strong my body was, I stopped being scared of them. In fact, I stopped and turned around to face them.

The one with the gray jacket looked appalled.

I took this as my chance. I ran as fast as I could, and this time, I paid attention to how everything blurred around me. I paid attention to how slow the vampires looked. I jumped up in front of one of them, grabbed his head, and slammed it against my knee.

I heard a loud, distinct _crack_! and he crumpled to the ground. His eyes went from completely red to normal brown, and they rolled back into his head. Unfortunately, I forgot about the other guy. He kicked me in my back and sent me headfirst into a tree stump. I heard another _crack_ and felt something trickle down my forehead. This was too much. All of this was too much.

I tried to stand up, but I couldn't.

I started to cry. " _Damn it. They got me again."_ I got dizzy and threw up next to the tree stump. As soon as I was done and I wiped my mouth, someone yanked me by my hair. Another put two fingers to my neck, and suddenly, everything started to go dark.

" _At least they waited for me to finish."_ I thought.

But I held on for as long as I could because they started to speak.

"See this is what I was talking about!" Someone yelled.

"You're right," said another. This is completely unheard of. My body was numb and lifeless, I couldn't move. One of them grabbed my arm and bent my head at an awkward angle.

"No scratches. No bites. This happened simply because she was near them, and she was only near them for a couple of hours."

One of them dropped my arm and head like I was a marionette puppet.

"They're too strong for their own damn good. This is why they need to be killed.

 _ **Allen**_

 _ **"**_ Okay, so how are we going to start off?" I said, but Samantha wasn't looking at me anymore. She was staring behind me... at her mother.

I couldn't tell if the curse was getting her, or if it was just old age. Either way, it didn't make the situation better. "Momma!" She screamed and ran towards her. She cradled her mother in her arms and started crying again.

"What are you doing?" Her mother spoke, in a harsh whisper. Break the curse, and free us. Please, do it while I still have time."

"Momma, I'm sorry for all the-"

Her mother wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Go. And stop the thing that's masquerading as your father. If you don't break the curse before I go, I'll never forgive you."

Sam just sat there, shocked by her mother's words. I put my hand on her shoulder to remind her of what we had to do. She bit her lip when I touched her, and I flinched because I thought she would strike me. She stood up and turned to her sister, who also looked like she still had black curse lines all over her body. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that instead of having one foot in the grave, she was already placing flowers on her tombstone.

"Donna, I'm kinda low on magic right now. Will you help us?" She pleaded.

"What do you want me to do?" Donna asked.

"We're going to destroy this damn house."


	11. Gone

_**Marissa**_

"I smelled him! I know I did!" Jamie said, running at full speed.

"Okay, but could you wait for the rest of us?!" Donovan shouted. We had traveled all the way to Seattle looking for Allen. We did find a newling werewolf, but it wasn't Allen. This man couldn't cope with what he'd become, and went insane. When he was human, all he did was mumble, "It's not real, none of this is real. Karen is still there. Benjamin is still there." In his wolf form, he ran around attacking anything that moved.

Luckily, he was bitten by a new generation werewolf, so he didn't have the huge wolf man form that Allen had, and his wolf form was smaller than ours. We put him down and left his body for police to find. We would have given him a burial, but the police were probably already looking for him.

"Who do you think did this?" I asked Jamie, ignoring Donovan. We hadn't talked since our last argument. Everytime he looked at me, I looked away. I didn't want to make eye contact and I didn't want him reading my mind.

"This was an accident." Jamie said. "He got into a bar fight with the wrong guy. He was bitten, then he made the mistake of coming home. He filed a police report, and later, he went outside to talk to the police."

"You know, there was a pretty big moon last night. And it was yellow." Donovan jumped into the conversation, ruining Jamie's story.

Instead of telling him to shut up, I but my lip and didn't respond. "Yea," said Jamie. "Anyways, while he was talking to the police outside, he started acting... You know."

Yeah, I knew.

"He started attacking the police. His daughter and son, Karen and Benjamin tried to pull their father off the police, and..."

I breathed deeply. His words rang in my head.

"Karen is still there. Benjamin is still there." I was glad I didn't have Jamie's gift. He could see things that people thought of most. The things they hated. Loved. Coveted. Regretted.

He probably knew the man's worst secrets. It made my skin crawl that Donovan could do something similar to me just because he was my Alpha.

Suddenly, I smelled something familiar. Donovan and Jamie did too, because they raised their heads just like I raised mine. "Could that be..."

"It is, it definitely is," said Don, with a perverted smile on his face. We all could sense, and smell, Danielle. The scent just came out of nowhere, which means that there is more magic involved than we originally thought.

Still... What was up with that smile on Donovan's face? Since when did he like Danielle?

It frustrated me a little, but then I realized this means he might leave me and Allen alone.

That is... If we ever find him.

"Let's go." Without a second thought, we all changed into our wolf forms and ran as fast as we could.

The longer it took, the more my hope diminished. What if she was being killed by some supernatural creature? What is some Mage sold her, or used her as a test subject?

I needed Danielle alive so I could find Allen.

After a while, we finally made it back to California from Washington. Her scent was unnaturally strong now, so potent I could still smell it as clear as day at the state line.

It also was coming from Sardis Park, the same place Allen and Danielle saved us. I hoped this was my chance to return the favor. The first thing we came across was a big man with a tree that fell on top of him. One of the trunks had shoved it's way through his left shoulder, and his head was caved in because of the tree. Even if there was a small possiblity he could still be alive and heal, I doubted it.

Danielle's scent was all around us. We just needed to find her. I kept walking until I smelled another type of blood. That's when we found them. Danielle was laying on the ground, looking like a crash test dummy. If I wasn't able to hear her heartbeat, I would've thought she was dead.

That was hardly a good sign though. Her heartbeat was beating slower than usual.

There was two men standing over her, and one of them looked like his whole face had been crushed. It seemed to be healing, but very slowly. They were standing completely still, so it appeared as though they had not seen us yet.

" _Okay, here's the plan,"_ Donovan said to us with our mental connection. It was the first time we connected since our last fight.

He explained his strategy, and we silently got into formation. We got ready to attack when one of the vampires turned around and looked directly at our hiding spots.

"What the fuck are y'all doing?" He asked.

I was so surprised I just walked out in the open.

"If you saw us why didn't you say something?" I asked. I was kinda disappointed. I thought we got the drop on these idiots.

"I thought you were the ones who caught us."

He replied, stepping over Danielle's body and moving closer to us. The other, with the messed up face, turned his back to us. "I mean, we are clearly hiding something, right?" Don't you want to know who this is?" He motioned towards Danielle, who was still unconscious.

If I wasn't stupid, I would've known what he was trying to do. He dashed at me with one hand raised, his palm open. Donovan and Jamie both jumped and grabbed one of his arms. They tried to pin him, but there was a bizarre blur, like how the air looks wavy when it's hot outside.

They dove to the ground, thinking they had pinned him down, but in reality, he had vanished.

My body felt heavy, like the gravity multiplied times 20.

I heard a laugh behind me. I tried to turn and fight, but every little move made my skin burn and peel off. Smoke was rising from my body, but as long as I didn't move, I couldn't feel the heat.

"You must've thought I was a vampire," he said, and I watched as Donovan and Jamie started to disintegrate and become part of the ground.

 _ **Samantha**_

I was so happy I had Allen as my backup. He was one of the werewolves descended from the ancients, so he was powerful as hell, even though it had only been a couple of days since he was human. He still had strength while I had almost nothing left to give. Without him, I would've died or quit before we made it to the living room.

He also kept my mind at ease. I started to think about when this was over, and just laying in his arms for hours on end. I didn't want anything else to think about. Nothing else was a priority.

And in bed... That wolf girl must have taught him some tricks the night before he met me. I don't wanna brag but... wait a second. She turned him into a werewolf at some point before he met me. He met them that exact day.

Did she... Did he... Did he get his werewolf powers from a blowj-

"Sam? Hey, Sam." Allen was snapping his fingers, trying to get my attention.

"I was just joking! Geez!"

He gave me a confused look.

"What?" He asked, and looked from me to Donna.

"Oh. Nevermind." I said. I'm glad that was just in my head. I was never going to tell him that I read his mind and new everything about him. I would never tell him that I knew about the werewolf girl. That would take the trust out of our relationship.

He started at me intently for a few seconds before moving on.

"It's time to bust this ghost."

"Um, it's not a ghost, it's just a physical manifesta-"

"It's imitating your dead father, and that's close enough." Allen took his fist, and punched straight through the wall. He removed his arm from the hole, and there was small glowing white lines around the hole.

"This might work," he murmured, and ran down the stairs.

I turned toward Donna, and almost jumped of my skin. Aside from looking like a horror villain, she looked like she was in pain. There were small tendrils of black smoke seeping from her body.

"Donna... How long do you think-"

"Hush," she said. She gave me a warm smile. "It's my own fault. We'll talk after I get you the necklace."

She dissolved and dispersed into smoke. It, or she, flew down the stairs and all around the house. I heard a cacophony of crashes and noises below. I guess Allen had already started.

 _ **Allen**_

I felt amazing. I finally turned into the wolf man form on purpose, with my own free will. The only difference is that my body felt fatigued. It felt like I should've done some stretches first, or something. Either way, I left the bedroom, jumped all the way down the balcony into the living room, and got to work. I still had a bad feeling, and I hadn't seen that short humanoid creature yet, but I felt like something was watching me. I wasn't sure if it was that creature, or the house itself.

The first thing I attacked was the bricks at the fireplace. The fire went out, even though I did nothing to it. Then I started punching through paintings and portraits, straight into the wall.

At first, I thought she would be mad I was ruining the photos, but after I punched the first one, the image burned, and started to fold in on itself.

"I'm gonna tear you alive for trespassing boy." A deep, bodyless voice boomed through the darkness.

"You aren't even real," I replied. "Don't waste my time."

I started to destroy more of their property, when I heard a jingling sound. Was it that short creature from before? I searched around, but saw nothing. The chandeliers started to dim, giving the room a similar feeling to the one it had earlier, when Donna was preventing us from reaching their mother. It wouldn't be hard for me to see in the dark. The problem was I didn't know where to look, and who to look for.

I knew I was about to be attacked. But I was sure that the curse wouldn't be dumb enough to attack me in their father's form. I would see that coming, so it might disguise itself into something I wouldn't notice. In fact, it could've been that short humanoid creature I saw earlier.

"Look up." Something whispered quickly. I had just enough time to move add one of the chandeliers almost fell on top of my head.

"Again." The voice whispered. This time, it was so close to me I thought I might get a chance to see it, but I should've dodged when it told me to. The chandelier came crashing down on my head, and the lights activated a couple of seconds before it hit me, so it illuminated the pitch black room, and it burned my skin.

There were several random parts of my body burning. I was pretty sure that burning feeling was starting to spread too.

"I'm gonna bury you in the backyard boy." The disembodied voice growled.

 _ **Samantha**_

Allen and Donna gave me motivation, but I still felt like hell. It hurt to walk. It hurt to talk. It hurt to breathe. It seemed like I was using alot of energy just to stand up, and that doing anything else could make me pass out.

But I had to persevere. There was no way I was going to give up when we were so close.

My mother was on her last breath, and my sister... I was pretty sure she was right along with her. The curse would give me nightmares. I imagined them dying so many times since I left that the real thing, happening right now, felt surreal.

I took one last look at my mother, her hands up to her face, probably trying to pray away the evil that surrounded this house and our family.

" _It's too late for that."_ I thought sadly. I took a deep breath, embraced the pain, and left the room.


	12. Bedroom

_**Samantha**_

I stopped in the hallway. There was lots of commotion downstairs. It was dark, then random spots of light. All I heard was glass breaking and Allen's wolfish roar.

" _Hmm."_ I thought. " _This is the first time he's controlled the wolf form. I hope he's okay."_

I turned, and instead of going downstairs, I went to my room. It looked just like it did when I left at the age of 19. Basically, it looked like a 7 year old lived in it. My cute princess bed, all white with poles on each side that almost reach the ceiling. The pink curtains draped around it that I kept knocking down when I was younger.

Everything in this room made my heart ache. I just a beautiful white vanity mirror just like my mother's, and the dresser was filled with toys, love letters and pictures of boys I used to like. I didn't use it for clothes because we conjured up whatever we wanted. I opened the dresser and picked up some of the pictures. I remembered all of these kids from elementary school.

I didn't use magic for love. I learned from Donna's mistakes. She did it constantly when we were younger, and something bad always happened to boys she fell in love with. After a while, boys stopped talking to her. If she hexed one of them, their friends would literally beat them to save them from Donna.

"That girl is bad luck, get away from her!" They screamed. That's how I manifested my powers in the first place. I had to protect my entire school from Donna.

But Donna was a grade higher than me, which made things difficult. At one point, I got in trouble for having too many absences. I had to tell my parents that I was missing school to stop Donna from killing her classmates. I kept a little charm bracelet that showed me what Donna was doing at all times.

I picked it up off my bed. It had frog, dog, cat, and mouse charms, with a big circular mirror in the center. Before I charmed it, the mirror would change colors depending on my mood. After I charmed it, it showed what Donna was doing from a third person perspective, like a camera above her head.

Enough of this. There was no reason to keep clinging to the past. But still, for some reason, I pocketed the bracelet. There was another loud scream from Allen, a big crashing sound, and the whole house shook.

I hadn't seen or heard any sign of Donna. Maybe she decided to seek out the necklace instead of destroying everything. That didn't matter though. If I didn't get rid of this place, it would hunt me for the rest of my life. I summoned all the remaining energy in me. It had started to replenish itself, so I had more power than I did when Donna through me on the glass table downstairs.

I called on all my energy, and willed it to take form. My body glowed red, the color you see if you cover a flashlight with your hand. I pressed my hand to the wall. Tears started to fall down my face, and I spoke one word.

"Burn."

 _ **Audrey**_

The door slowly closed after Samantha walked out. I breathed deeply and turned to the mirror.

In the cracks, I could see everyone. I saw that boy, Allen, fighting the malevolence downstairs.

I saw Donna, in her old room, hugging her little girl, crying, and giving her instructions. I saw my baby girl, Sam, in her room, gazing at old memories. There was no need for me to continue. This is my future. Everything right here.

One by one, more cracks appeared in the mirror till it completely shattered. I closed my eyes, and let everything in the room dissolve.

 _ **Allen**_

I was getting sick of this curse. I had so much brain damage I was sure there were literal chandeliers floating around my head. When I looked up, I saw that there were only four chandeliers left. Meanwhile, I had just about destroyed everything in this beautiful living room, including the couch. The curse just stopped speaking a few minutes ago, and weird whistling and crackling sounds were the only thing I had to notify me of when it was going to attack.

I looked around, and I didn't know what else to attack, besides the walls. The whispering voice went quiet after I started dodged the chandeliers properly. I heard a sharp clicking sound, so I turned around. I decided to destroy the front door, then I was going to destroy the stairs. I ran for the door, and 2 chandeliers almost dropped on me. _2 left._ I made a mental note of this while I sprang for the door. I punched it as hard as I could, and my fist got stuck in the door.

Tendrils of fire creeped up my right arm. I yanked back, and more of door broke when I got my arm free. I slammed my arm against the wall, trying to beat off the flames. It worked, but barely. My arm was badly burned, my nerves were on edge, and my skin was screaming.

The burns went all the way up to my shoulder, and it had actually turned my arm human. The rest of myself remained wolfish, but my arm was slightly smaller than the rest of me. I was surprised it wasn't smaller. I had gotten buffer during all the things we've experienced.

I got distracted, and for a second I was able to feel the burns on my arm. I let out a scream so loud, so inhuman and disgusting it made my flesh crawl. And that didn't feel good, cause my flesh was already burning.

I tried to focus on the animal instincts. While in beast mode, I barely felt anything.

"I bet that stung, you dumb dog."

The voice returned, and cackled after it taunted me.

I drew short, quick breaths, and charged back to the living room. I headed for the stairs, and one of the last two chandeliers started to fall. I jumped up, maybe about ten feet in the air, and grabbed the chandelier. I threw it into the wall, and jumped off the wall onto the steps.

Starting at the top, I started pounded and crushing each one, watching ghostly white light emerge from all the stuff I destroyed.

 _ **Donna**_

"But it hasn't even been that long." My little girl cried.

"I don't want to go back, I want to stay with you."

She was making this so hard for me. We didn't even have much time left. "Listen, do you hear me? Just listen." My voice was cracking, I had to pause between words. My heart was hurting, I felt like I was gonna be sick. "Everything will be okay. I love you, I want to protect you, and I want to watch over you, but I don't have long. There's nothing I can do to change what's about to happen. But I promise you, my sister will look after you. She knows best.

 _ **Samantha**_

I don't know how much time passed by as I waited in that room. I don't know why I stayed in there for so long, watching my hold childhood turn to ash. But I did it anyway. I stayed till there was nothing left to burn but the paint on the walls. I stayed until ashes surrounded my feet. I stayed until I could only breathe in smoke and pure heat.

Afterwards, turned and made the door crumble with my powers, since everything else was too hot to touch. As I looked into the hallway, everything was cracking crumbling and rumbling. The starting point was my mother's room. I tried not to focus on that, or any of the other tragedies.

The hallway was filling with smoke too. Pretty soon, everything would be on fire. I was about to run towards my mother's room... But I knew in my heart she wouldn't want to be saved.

The only door not affected by the cracks was the one leading to my sister's room. Maybe Donna was praying. Maybe she was trying to save some of her possessions. I almost wanted to open the door and tell her nothing could be saved, but that wouldn't be a good idea.

She's suffered through so much. This curse happened because my family used magic to get everything we wanted, but Donna never got what she wanted. She never got to have a family of her own. No husband, no children, no grandchildren. That's why they wanted me to continue the family. They knew it was impossible for Donna.

I decided to leave her be. She'd have to appear again sooner or later. I put my hand to the wall, and dragged my fingers as I walked. Each finger created a trail of fire. I did it until I reached my mother's room, then I turned towards the stairs. Or what used to be the stairs. The stairs had been completely wrecked, and staring up at me, breathing heavily, was a charbroiled Allen. His right arm looked like barbecue on a stick. There were burns like giant cigarette burns all over his wolfish humanoid form, and his eyes weren't wolfish like they were supposed to be. They were human.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?" I asked, unable to get closer. Even if I could've gotten closer, I don't think I had enough magic right now to heal those injuries. "Grrr, irrr, rahhh." He replied. I guess the wolf man form couldn't speak. "Don't worry, I'll find a way down."

Teleporting would've used a lot more magic, but I see any other option. He growled again, and used his good arm, the left, to point at the balcony.

I moved towards it, unsure what he was referring to, when he jumped up and grabbed onto the balcony with his bad arm. He whimpered, and his eyes softened. "No!" I cried. "Why would you-" Before I could finish, his left arm grabbed me and he let go of the rail. When he dropped down, I got a glimpse of the havoc he wreaked on our living room.

 _ **Donna**_

 _ **"**_ When this ends, I'm going to give you a gift, okay?" She wasn't crying anymore. I had her on my knee, and her head rested on my breast. I was bouncing her up down to comfort her.

"What type of gift?" She whimpered squeezing one of my hands with her little fingers.

 _ **Allen**_

After I grabbed Samantha and dropped down, I saw it. The curse just finally taken form again, but not as their father. This time, it was Sam's mother, and instead of being realistic like it was last time, it was shadowy and transparent.

I wanted to tell Sam about the apparition, but my voice didn't seem to work in this form.

"This is my last warning." The spectral figure spoke. "Get out of here or I'll destroy this house and everything in it!"

Sam leaped out of my arms, probably because my right arm looked disgusting, and laughed.

"You'll destroy this house? We've already been doing that!" She pointed upwards towards the second floor, where we could easily see bright light from the flames and smoke.

I was kind of ticked off at the ghost's statement though. "What did you think I was doing when I was tearing this room apart? I was _obviously_ trying to destroy everything. I wasn't playing keep away with some retarded ghost."

The curse, or Sam's mother, gave me an ugly look. " I _can't believe_ Samantha let trash like you enter our house. I lunged for the specter, and was surprised I actually grabbed it. I tried to choke it, but since it had no need to breathe it just looked at me evilly.

"Hold it still," Sam demanded me. She raised her to destroy it, but wavered. I was about to ask what's wrong and then I remembered. If there phantom had taken the form of Sam's mother, that must mean she...

"Sam," I said. "If you can't do it, we'll find another-"

The ghost let out a wailing scream. My fist was glowing purple, and it extended to the ghost, making it's body disintegrate into particles of white light.


	13. It's Done

_**Marissa**_

Jamie and Donovan clenched their fists together, trying to keep their fingers from turning to dirt. "What the hell is this?!" Donovan screamed. "How do we stop it?"

Jamie muttered a curse word and said "Warlock." They both got up from the ground, their eyes turning lupine, hairs sprouting from their bodies. They jumped and shifted into their wolf form. In this form, they had stopped disintegrating, but the color of their fur was fading. It looked bleached out, and they seemed smaller than usual.

"Damn it." The warlock smiled. "You nulled my spell with your own curse. Clever. Luckily for you, you're not my targets today. Hey! Bats!"

He called to the other guy with the messed up face. "Let's go!"

The other guy was still feeling his face, smoothing it out. He stopped and finally turned around. "Wait a minute. I think we need to shed some light on the situation, before these mongrels do anymore damage."

When I got a look at his face, I gasped. It was Axel. Whatever previous damage that had been inflicted on his face was gone. He still had the same twisted smile as always.

"Are you an idiot?" The warlock replied. "We had one job. We've done it. Frederick's dead, and that means we have conclusive evidence. There's nothing else to be done except returning her to the coven." To this, Axel raised his hand, as if to interrupt him, but he let him finish.

"Shouldn't it be common courtesy to tell the people you're hunting why you're hunting them?

These three don't know why they exist. They don't know why they're hunted. All they know is that every supernatural creature wants them dead. The _least_ I could do is enlighten these mutts before I use their pelts for my bathrobe."

 _ **Samantha**_

Everything went still after the apparition vanished. I could still hear the cackling fire upstairs. I could hear the gas leaking and worse popping. But neither I nor Allen made a sound. After it dissipated, Allen dropped his arms to his sides. He tried to look at me sideways, without catching my eye. That wasn't necessary though. I was just staring off into space, unsure what to do next.

He probably didn't want to interrupt me because he thought I was grieving. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was doing. I guess I was just waiting for an answer. A sign, telling me to keep moving forward. The best thing Allen could've done was shake me, or slap me out of my illusions. Sadly, he didn't.

I was starting to notice every little thing in this room. The shards of glass caught my attention The smoke from above was burning my nostrils. I saw Allen's right arm grow and heal. It was moving slowly, but his arm was taking on the wolf form like the rest of his body. I wondered how long he could keep that form up.

Did it strain him? Did it require any effort at all?

I had no idea. I made a mental note to ask him, if time stopped standing still and we were able to move past all of this.

Suddenly, a mirror appeared at my side, putting a pause on my depression. It was similar to the mirror I created earlier, but it was all black with shiny runestones placed all over it. Donna emerged from a swarm a smoke that had combined together. At first, she looked just as she did earlier, malevolent, sick, and ominous, but she closed her eyes and concentrated.

She was concentrating hard. It looked like she was in pain.

Finally, she let out a huge breath and her skin returned to normal. All of the evil black lines had disappeared. She looked healthy.

Donna ran up to hug me, and I embraced her.

My body glowed yellow, and all my wounds started to heal. I sighed with relief. She reached out for Allen's hand, and even though he was sightly reluctant, he took it.

The golden glow surrounded him too, and his arm healed instantly. He started to shrink, and after a few seconds he was back to his human form. His clothes were different. He had on a purple hoodie with black pants, and his shoes were good and white. I never tried to change his attire, so I knew Donna's magic was overriding my own. My clothes changed too, but not into something better. They just mended themselves and looked exactly as they did when we entered.

"There. Now, it's time."

She let go of us, smiled, and backed up. A sphere of light hovered above us, and it flickered a little. It was similar to a hologram, because it's light filled the room and everything looked just as it had before we entered, in pristine condition.

Allen let out a small outburst. "Why the..." He tried to touch the couch, and his hand went through it. "Oh. Okay."

He turned back towards me, and Donna's hands were shining. She flicked her wrist, and three necklace appeared.

"Where did you find it?" I whispered.

"It was hidden in Mama's room." She said, and her chest started rising quickly. She was probably on the verge of crying. "I went back in there. Everything had turned to ash except the bed she laid on." Donna wiped her face with one of her hands. She was trembling. "This necklace was glowing, shining through the rubble. I tried to tell her that I found the necklace, I tried to wake her and let her know..."

Donna couldn't speak anymore. I stepped forward and held her. She almost collapsed in my arms, dragging me to the floor with her. With Allen for support, I stood back up with Donna in my arms. She was sobbing so loudly I bet the neighborhood could hear her. That is... If the neighborhood was actually real.

"Sam." Allen whispered. "What's the mirror for?"

Donna, stopped her crying for a second. That must've reminded her of what we came here for.

She stood up on her own, and wiped her tears of my face. "We use the mirror to capture the curse. It's like a demon, and it's going to have a few last words for us when we banish it forever."

Allen listened intently to what Donna said. He nodded to show he understood, then he stood right next to me in front of the mirror, and we looked at ourselves. He started checking out his clothes. He smiled at the mirror and said, "I look good."

My body may have been healed, but I didn't have the energy to laugh. I just smiled and shoved him a little. Donna handed me the necklace. "Go ahead," she urged. "Put it on."

I took a deep breathe and put it around my neck. Allen held my hair up while I clasped it.

Just like that, Donna's magic extinguished. The hologram like sphere was gone. Everything was back to ash, rubble, smoke and fire. The fire just spread to the downstairs area too. Parts of the ceiling were raining down on top of us.

The mirror swirled into a pool of fire, and a burning figure leaped out of it and tried to grab me.

But Allen's reflexes had gotten faster, and he didn't let it happen. He threw himself in front of me, and the figure grabbed him instead.

It didn't appear to be choking him though. It seemed to just be holding him, or perhaps it was using Allen as an anchor to stay on this side of the mirror. It's back half was still stuck the mirror. I'm not sure if it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but I could've sworn I saw faces in the fire.

The burning figure sighed and sounded exasperated. "You did it." It growled. "You actually did it." I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do! All I knew was getting this necklace would break the curse.

"Lemme go!" Allen growled. I could feel Allen's emotions, and he seemed extremely mad that this thing was holding him.

"Gimme a second boy, I have something to say."

Allen stopped resisting, but his hair kept growing and his eyes were already wolfish.

"Damn you!" The creature said to us. He looked at me and Donna. "Both of you! No, all three of you! Your family's ignorance and greed had kept me alive for years, and you ruined it. If your soul was worth anything I'd take it for penance."

Loud bangs and booms sounded all around us, and suddenly, the house was falling apart twice as fast. The ash was starting to vanish in white light, big physical objects that hadn't been destroyed created loud explosions when they disappeared, causing more destruction to the surrounding area.

"Neither one of you is getting away scot-free. Your accursed family was never meant to have magic in the first place, and I _intend_ on righting the wrongs of your simple-minded ancestors."

Donna's body and mine were simultaneously engulfed in purple flame. It felt like it was draining my life force and my energy. My body felt fatigued, and I thought I might pass out from exhaustion. The way I felt couldn't compare to the way Donna felt. She was screaming in pure agony. Her skin was peeling, the black marks appeared and she looked like she did when she fought us earlier.

"Aside from pissing me off boy, you've done nothing wrong." He released Allen, who jumped back in disgust. He looked like he was on the verge of transforming. He took a swing at the cursed figure and went straight through him, into the fiery mirror behind him. Allen's hand caught on fire, and to put it out he slammed it against the ground, punching out the flames.

He tried to grab Donna but he couldn't. The purple aura repelled and burned him too. She dropped to her hands and knees and stopped screaming. I was determined not to drop. I was determined to stay awake. She sent out a blast of magic upwards, and half of the ceiling blew up, revealing the dark night sky. Then she stood up, grabbed the figure, and screamed into its face.

Green flames came from her mouth, engulfing the figure in flames. As he screamed, I had one last idea. There was nothing left to lose. Especially since the figure was trying to drain our powers right now. I stretched, and yawned, and brought my fists up to my chest. I flexed every muscle I could, and wore all of the magic I had as a barrier between me and the purple flame. The flame extinguished for a minute, but my hands still vibrated with a purple tinge. There was no escaping this. I was going to lose my powers, but I was determined not give the curse what it wanted.

"ALLEN!" I shouted. He was standing behind me, trying to shake off all of the fire. The purple fire clung to him, unlike the orange in the mirror. He looked surprised and wild eyed.

"What?!" He yelled back.

" _Thank you_." I whispered, and punched him with all my power, with all my force. He was wrapped in ball of orange light as he blasted through the wall and out into the fake neighborhood.

"NO!" the shadowy figure screamed. "NOOOO!"

The purple aura around me dissipated, and I felt normal again. Well, as normal as one could feel if they were trapped in a burning house. I heard a loud shrieking cry, but I didn't know where it came from. It didn't seem like it came from the figure, and I was really close to Donna, so it couldn't have been her.

Then, to my shock, the purple fiery aura around her dissipated too. Shaking and convulsing, she raised tried to stand up.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS! YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY VICTORY FROM ME!"

Everything in the house illuminated. Brighter and brighter, so bright it hurt my eyes.

"Sam," Donna said weakly, calling for me.

"Can you promise me to do one thing?"

I was holding her, and she didn't even feel human anymore.

"Yes! Yes, anything!"

She coughed up blood, and then she started to glow, like everything else in the house.

"Promise me you'll look after my daughter."


	14. Allen, Sam, and Sam

_**Allen**_

She knocked the daylights out of me, and I mean that literally. The punch itself didn't hurt, but flying through the wall and landing on my back and head did. My body felt cold and rigid after her punch. The orange glow felt like I was encased in ice. I didn't even understand why she did it. Maybe the figure possessed her and took control of her body.

Whatever the reason, I painfully tried to get to my feet. My shoulder might have been dislocated, but that was the least of my worries. In addition to the fire, the whole house was shaking and starting to glow a bright white. I took a step forward, and my legs buckled. My left ankle was broken. It would probably be a minute or so before I could walk.

But I had to get back in the house! Donna was in pain, and Sam was possessed, so I had to do something! I tried to turn into my wolf form, but it was too slow. I really only needed my wolf mind and instincts, because I can ignore the pain when I'm in that state. I took another step forward, and another. _I can do this,_ I thought. I walked forward, and the next thing I knew, everything exploded.

Wood, bricks, and glass flew everywhere. My arms got cut up, a brick hit me in my left knee, a small slab of wood for stuck in my side. I dropped to the ground carefully, trying not to make the pain worse. I laid on my back and for into the fetal position. There was nothing to hide under, because the entire neighborhood had disappeared.

I kept cowering until I heard nothing else hit the ground. When everything stopped, I looked at my injuries. My head throbbed, but wasn't bleeding. My ankle, and knee, had healed. The only thing that hadn't healed was my side, because the piece of wood was still in it.

I stopped being skittish and pulled it out. It felt gross, and made my flesh crawl, but it wasn't painful. The wound was already healing before my eyes. Without these werewolf powers, I'd be dog chow right now.

As I got up and looked around, I saw no trace of the neighborhood being here, aside from the street I was standing on. Where the houses used to be was pretty, perfect grass, the type you'd see on golf courses. I didn't even see any debris from the explosion.

Oh no. "Sam!" I screamed. I turned around to where the big house used to be and saw a red bubble. There were two figures inside of it, and one was on its knees. I ran as fast as I could and when I got near... I couldn't see inside. The red bubble acted like lightning, and it had orange and yellow flares flashing all around too. All I could see was the silhouettes inside. It didn't look safe to touch, but my arm had already been scorched tonight, I doubted this could be any worse.

At the moment my hand made contact, it fizzled away. One of them jumped at the sight of me, and back backwards. Samantha was the one sitting down. I took my eyes off her for a second and looked at the other figure, who was not Donna. It was a little girl, maybe ten, or eleven years old. There were tears all over her face, and she was shaking.

"Hey, wait. I won't hurt you. Come here." I held out my arms, trying to comfort her. She waited a few seconds, but she finally walked over and embraced me. I rubbed her back softly. She put her head on my chest, and I could already feel it getting wet. She was crying again. "Shh, it's okay, you'll be okay." I had no idea where this girl came from, I didn't even know she was in the house.

I looked at Sam, who had just as many tears on her face as the little girl. "Are you okay Sam? I didn't know you had two sisters."

Sam composed herself and stood up.

"I don't. Apparently, she's my niece."

"Oh. But I thought you said your sister could never get a man, could never find love?"

"She couldn't, because of the curse. That means this girl must be adop-"

I snapped my fingers angrily at her, trying to get her to shut up. I know a couple of children that played at the park who were adopted. They _did not_ like that word. Sam understood, because her eyes widened and she shut up immediately.

Sam tapped the girls shoulder, and by the little girl looked up at her. "What's your name, sweetie?" Sam asked in a baby like tone.

The little girl wiped her face and said, "Sam. My name is Sam." Sam and I both looked up and stared at each other for a second. Then, she looked back down to the girl and smiled.

"You what's funny? That's my name too! I'm Sam, it's short for Samantha." She held out her hand for a handshake. Little Sam smiled and shook it.

"Mines is short for Samirah." She said. She seemed to be feeling better. Sam tried asking a riskier question. "Um, who taught you how to use magic?" She prodded.

The smile on Samirah face melted. "My mama." She replied, and moved closer back to me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Sam's eyes filled with tears, and she didn't finish her sentence.

Samirah looked back at Sam while she was crying. She looked up at me, and I nodded my head towards Sam. She let go of me and hugged Sam tightly. Sam hugged her back, and they stayed that way for a couple of minutes.

Out of respect, I chose not to interrupt.

"She's been teaching me magic for the last few months," Samirah said, breaking the silence. "She said one day, I'll be own my own again, and I need to be ready."

Sam wiped the new tears off of Samirah's face. "Really? She didn't say anything about me?"

Samirah nodded. She said you would protect me... When you needed to."

Sam's looked confused, and I gotta a weird feeling in the back of my head. It seemed like she was lying, but I doubted it. Why would she lie when she just lost her mother?

"Okay... Tell me what you can do. What are you capable of? How strong are you?"

She was excited to tell her, because her eyes lit up. I can do all the things that she taught me, and I'm even stronger now because she gave me her powers." Sam looked at the girl's hands.

 _What are we going to do?_ I wondered. _The curse is gone and Sam's powerless_. _Where do we go from here?_

"Don't you guys have a home? Can't we go there?" She asked me. That freaked me out. Either she read my mind or she was just as tired of standing in the middle of nowhere at night as I was.

"Oh my gosh, I've been so distracted." Sam said. "How are we going to get home?" I asked her. She pointed at me. "You. I hit you for a reason Al. You have all of my powers now."

It took a minute for that to sink in. "Wait... What?" She rolled her eyes, and Samirah giggled.

"Me and... _my sister," sh_ e said carefully. "Had the same idea. Give our powers away before the curse could take them. That's why it was so pissed. That's why, instead of just burning down, the house exploded and disappeared. It felt like we both cheated our way out of our punishment.

"But I don't understand. I don't feel different, and I don't know a single spell." She covered Samirah's eyes and kissed me. "What part of I'll teach you did you not understand? I've been helping you this whole time. You've mastered your wolf form, and you've already been exposed to a lot of magic, inside and out.

I'm turn you into a being no one has ever seen before." She crouched down so Samirah could get on her back. "Do I get to keep my face, or do I have to wear long fake eyelashes like you?"

" _Ha ha,_ you think you're so funny, but I don't need magic to aim below the belt.

I made a mental not to joke about her eyelashes again.

"Hold my hands. I may not have magic, but a telepathy link should be easy for us, since we've already... _connected."_ I did exactly what she told me, and closed my eyes.

"Imagine your house."

"Got it."

"What are you going to do when you get there?"

"I'm going to sleep, then, after I make sure you both are okay, I'm going to keep long

Looking for my roommate, Jacob."

"I'm so sorry! I forgot I promised to help you."

"It's okay. Without your powers, what could you do anyways?"

Samirah butted in. "You didn't have to be so mean." She complained.

"Shhh," I lectured her. "We're trying to get home.

What spell do I cast?" Her hands for sweaty.

"I actually didn't learn much from spell books," She confessed. But the greatest reach levels were they don't need to say a word to invoke it's power, so I just skipped the middle man and didn't use the book at all."

"So you're a fraud?" I stated bluntly.

"No! I just... Allen, say the name of your address so we can go home."

I said the name, and our surroundings got blurry.

"One more thing! Make sure you close your eyes!"

She was way too late. My eyes stayed open. Everything moved so fast it was sickening. It was like going down really fast on a high roller coaster, and all of a sudden your bar flies up, and you get launched out of the roller coaster.

All of our surroundings stretched out, and in my house the ceiling was moving with every breath I took, and every step I take. We had landed in the living room, and I dropped to the couch on purpose and tried to fall asleep. Samirah said down next to me, and she was snoring hard after 15 seconds.

"Damn, I wish I could fall asleep that quick." I said out loud.

"Allen, you still have work to do." I whined like a child.

"You need to fix that wall and the windows that are destroyed, and you need to set up some defense magic to stop things like that from happening"

She was right, but how did she know that in the first place? The wall was obvious, it was right behind the couch, easy to notice. But the windows were on the second floor, and they were facing the backyard, so there was no way she would've known.

"Tell me how you found out about the damage." I said. There was a long pause.

"Damage? What damage?" She was trying to play stupid.

"The ones you just talked about."

"Oh." She laughed. "I know about it because of the telepathy link."

I had that weird feeling she was lying, just like earlier with Samirah. I decided to drop it for now.

"How do I do all of that?"

"I told you. Use your imagination. Make things happen. Create what you think needs to be created."

That gave me an idea.

"So I can be like Green Lantern?"

"Yea... Sure" I could feel her judging me just by the way she said it.

I closed my eyes and imagined the wall was fixed. I imagined everything flying back into place.

I heard a couple of rumbling sounds and then Sam's squeal of delight. "Great! Now put up a barrier."

I tried to create a big blue forcefield that shocked people. I put turrets outside, with motion sensors and land mines.

Sam didn't have magic anymore. At least, that's what she told me. But she was still able to sense magical energy.

"A little overkill, but good job."

I felt proud of myself, even though I hadn't seen what I'd done yet.

"Now, imagine me in some pretty pink lingerie that's lacy with-"

"What's wrong with you?" I whisper shouted.

"I don't have any clothes here!" She whispered back. I waved her off.

"Take Samirah upstairs to my room with you. I'll sleep here, and tomorrow we can go get new clothes. We both looked down at Samirah's sleeping face.

"Yea, I guess that's a good idea."


	15. Realization

Somewhere, in an office building early next morning, there was one man already in his workspace. He had on a dark, silk blue dress shirt, with a gray suit and a fake flower in his lapel.

It was so early the sun wasn't up, and he sat at his desk, waiting. He had a shiny silver hourglass the size of a desk lamp, and he was watching the sand fall. The sand was also silver. A tall girl snuck up on him, and was standing at his door.

"Does it really take that much concentration?" She asked.

"No," he replied slowly. "But under the circumstances, I must give this my undivided attention. It isn't easy to accelerate time, and it's even harder because of the _people_ you guys are hunting."

She laughed and walked into the room.

"Fair point. So how bad is it? What are the odds?"

He laughed, an intense, happy laugh the filled the room with warmth."These kids could murder you in their sleep. Blind."

"Well damn." She replied. "I'm glad we don't pay you to be optimistic."

She looked at him intently, but he never turned around. "You barely _pay_ me for the stuff I actually do. So I want information."

"What type of information? We told you, if you know too much, you are going to be killed."

He turned around, and looked at her for the first time. His eyes were celestial, a harlequin of colors in his eyes.

"I know that. What I'm asking for is simple. I want to know their names."

The girl stopped smiling. "Can't you just find that out by watching them?" She was worried for herself. Telling him anything could put her in danger. "No, I can't. I don't hear them, I just watch them as they go."

"Wow, I bet that's boring." She said, trying to change the subject.

"It's not as boring as you think. These are some _very interestin_ g people. That's why I want to know their names. The more I know about them, the stronger my magic is, and the more I can do."

 _I can use this._ She realized. _If it helps his powers, we can't be penalized. "_ I guess I can tell you their names, as long as you don't ask for anything else."

His eyes brightened, and the colors sparkled.

"I won't ask for anything else, I promise."

She tried to see if she could remember them all. The main three were obvious, but the gypsy and the human girl were hard to recall. The human boy was easy though. They'd been talking about him the most.

"Ok, are you ready?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Aren't you going to write them down?"

"I don't need to."

His voice carried a certain weight with it. She felt like this magical man was hiding something. She couldn't even tell if that was his real body. His eyes were so unusual, it bothered her at first but the more due talked to him the more amazing she thought they were.

She tried to shoo away her thoughts and began to recite the people's names.

"The first one is Allen Spears."

"Which one is that?" He asked.

"The one that used to be normal before-"

"Ah, I know him. One of my favorites."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Favorites?"

He gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah, this thing is like a gigantic soap opera for me."

She took a step back. "Wow. And I thought I had no life."

He laughed, taking no offense to her comment.

"What are the rest called?"

"The main three are Donovan, Jamie, and Marissa. Their surnames have yet to be discovered, becau-"

He hunched over and shook violently.

She instinctively leaped forward to help him, but remembered the terms of their agreement.

"Are you okay?" She managed to say.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." She hoped she didn't sound insincere.

His body had a little pink aura forming around it, and the colors in his eyes seemed like they were coming out of his head. They started to look like little holographic balls floating right outside his eye.

"The final two...Um, I actually don't remember those girls names."

He turned directly towards her, and she was completely certain that those little lights were moving outside of his eye sockets. "It's okay. I have everything I needed to know."

 _ **Allen**_

I had a revelation when I woke up, and it wasn't a good one. For starters, I realized how much I needed sleep, because it was almost five in the evening when I woke up. Second, my feelings... were different. It was like my conscious clicked on and questioned everything I did the past few days.

" _Why did I help Samantha?"_ It asked. I know I needed to find Jacob, and I know that I wanted to learn magic from her, but I still felt like it was something I shouldn't have done.

The questions popped up in my head, over and over until I finally realized what happened.

 _Why did I sleep with Samantha?_

 _Why did I continue to help her after we were attacked at the hotel? Why did I bring her and Samirah back to my place, when I had planned to find Jacob as soon as possible?_

Because she hexed me, that's why. She'd been using her magic on me the entire time, coercing me to be her minuteman. I wondered what happened when she took over me, controlling my body, probably reading my thoughts. I was so mad I wanted to... I wanted to... damn it.

There wasn't anything I could do. She's a girl, and she just went through something I'd never be able to do. That being said, I had no feelings for her anymore either.

Not just hormonal feelings, I didn't feel any sympathy for her. I suppose, the way I felt was close to hate, because the more I thought about it the more I questioned why I brought her here, why I accepted her offer. She was powerless now, no use to me at all.

I got up, and went upstairs. I thought they'd be in my room, but both of them were gone, and the bed was a mess. There was a note on the bed spread, and it said, "Tried to wake you up, but you slept like a bear. Went to the park to let her play, we'll be back soon. -Sam"

I crumpled the note up in my hands.

I was deep in thought, trying to figure out how I got into this. No, I wanted to figure out why I agreed on the first place. She was elusive, quirky and seductive. But that's not what got me. It was her magic, and now that she had no magic, all of the feelings I had for her were starting to fade. It was like some type of love spell, making me do her bidding endlessly.

But all of that was over with. Now that I was awake, it was time to get to business. First, I was going to go back to the bar, and test out my magic. Sam said instead of studying magic, she did it by simply believing in her abilities.

If that's the case, it should be easy to interrogate the bar patrons and ask if they've seen someone like Jacob. If that fails... well, I still have my werewolf form. I had already made up my mind not to concern myself with Sam and Samirah. I've helped her. My job is done.

 _ **Samantha**_

I was sitting on a bench in Sardis Park.

The sun was lower in the sky, but it hadn't started to set yet. It was a beautiful day outside, and the constant wind felt great. I wish we had kites to fly. That would've been fun for both of us. There was a book in my hand that I wasn't actually reading, and Samirah was playing with other children. It was cute, watching her play. I could say that this is why I wasn't reading, but it's not. I wasn't reading because I hate reading, and this book was boring as dirt.

"Benny! Come on, Benny, let's go!" A middle aged woman called her son, and let the leash holding their dog go. They had a little dachshund puppy. It was hyper and energetic, and if it was unlucky it could've been stomped to death by any of the kids in the park.

Fortunately, the boy named Benny picked up the tiny dog. Running towards his mother, he let the leash drag behind him. Samirah was watching with pure fascination. As soon as they were gone, she walked back up to me.

"Sam, can I have a dog?" She asked.

I almost didn't know what to tell her. I had no money, and no job. I'm pretty sure my actual home disappeared with my magic too, because I used some of my magic to create it.

"You're gifted, Samirah. You should be able to conjure up anything you desire."

"Isn't that the reason my mommy is gone?" She asked in a low voice. I had nothing to say, because she was right. My family suffered because we thought we could get what we wanted whenever we wanted it. And it took generations to realize that.

"Yes, but that curse is gone. We destroyed it, the four of us. Everything that was created with magic was destroyed with magic."

She sat down next to me, and looked at the kids still playing. "So, everything that your family had is gone? You can't bring anything back?"

"There was only one original thing in that house," I told her. "and that was my great grandmother's necklace." I instinctively grabbed for my neck, reaching for it, but it wasn't there.

"What the..." I mumbled as I checked my pockets. Samirah, just started at me, unblinking. I never took off the necklace, and there's no way I left it at Allen's house. In one of my pockets, I pulled out the charm bracelet I had taken from my room. How did this still exist? Where was the necklace?

"Samirah, did you see what I did with the necklace?" I looked up to where she was sitting, but she was gone. "Samirah?" I called. "Samirah!" I looked towards the playground, but all the children had vanished.

"Samirah!" I screamed. "Where did you go?!" Clouds started to cover the sky, but they weren't gray. They were huge and white. The wind blew louder, and shadows started moving independently across the park. Some were random shapes, some silhouettes of people.

I leaped up, not sure were to look or search, just going anywhere, looking for an answer.

Suddenly, my arms and legs snapped together, as if they were bound by rope. The swings kept moving as if someone was still there.

"Samirah, stop this! What would your mother think of she saw what you were doing?"

And everything froze. The wind, shadows, and clouds. The swings, birds, and insects, everything just stopped.

"My mother is the reason I'm doing this in the first place."

 _ **Marissa**_

Donovan and Jamie didn't look too good. I'm sure if they didn't have pride they would've tucked their tails in and hid their snouts with their paws, but they persisted. Even though they were starting to look like dying strays they still bared their teeth and growled.

"Stop the facade, and save your strength. The spell wasn't meant to kill you, but resisting it might do you in." The warlock was advising us, while Axel looked ready for murder.

He slung Danielle on his shoulder, and I tried to run, but my legs were wrapped in vines.

"I didn't forget about you." The warlock said, catching my eye.

I had to stand there and watch as they got ready to leave. "You mutts are like a virus. Your powers are so strong, it leaks out and infects others. Word to the wise, don't come into close contact with any humans until we kill you. You've already infected this girl, and we don't even _know_ what you've done to that boy, Allen."


	16. Shaye

_**Marissa**_

They left with a loud cracking sound, and the ground was smoking where they used to be. The vines around my feet unraveled, and I immediately ran to Donovan and Jamie's side.

Even though they were smaller than they should have been, they were still at my elbow level. I rubbed their manes and patted their snouts.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked.

 _"I feel like hell,"_ Donovan said with his mind. " _So do I."_ Jamie agreed.

"Stay in this form," I told them. "When we get to the hotel, we'll put you both in some clothes and seek out a medic."

" _I don't think I could transform back if I wanted to,"_ said Jamie bluntly.

This has been an utter failure. I thought sadly. We'd found and lost Danielle, and Axel told us we were contagious. But I don't believe that crap for a second. Donovan may have bitten Allen, but nothing has happened to Danielle. I'm sure that he said that as a ploy to get us to chase after them. We were going to go that anyways, but in our own time. If we could find Allen and explain it to him, it would be even easier. With him on our side, our power alone should scare the rest of the werewolf race off of us, leaving only mages, vampires, and the other random weaklings in the sky.

 _"Something's wrong,"_ Jamie said to us. " _It's almost night, but everyone in the hotel is active. It's normally quiet at this hour."_

We were about a mile or two from the hotel, Donovan and Jamie were pushing forward tirelessly in there weakened state, and I was running full speed in my human form.

Normally, the wolf form is automatically faster than the human form, but they were struggling to keep up with me, and that's how I know they were in pain.

Suddenly, they both growled furiously and stopped a second, bared their teeth, and looked at each other. Their wolf senses must've heightened so much I couldn't hear the conversation anymore.

"What is it? What's happening?" I knew they couldn't speak verbally, but they still could hear me. I was hoping they'd calm down their minds enough, so I could enter the conversation, but they didn't.

Instead, they took off, running with a burst of energy they didn't have before. They overtook me and made it to the hotel, leaving huge clouds of dust in their wake.

When I caught up to them, the hotel was in shambles. There were people running in and out, some carrying suitcases, some carrying children. The windows were smashed on the first and second floor, and there were scratch marks all over the walls.

They got here four minutes before me! How much damage could they have done? Something in the back of my mind told me that this wasn't them, but I was still unsure.

While I was gazing at the destruction, something let out a horrifying sound.

I turned around to see a wolf bigger than me, Donovan, and Jamie. There was already a lot of blood on his snout. There's no telling how many people he's already killed.

"Stay back," I murmured, watching it closely, "Stay... GET HIM!"

Don and Jamie came running towards my rescue, both back in human forms, fully clothed. They jumped on it's face and attempted to stab it's eyes out with their bare hands.

I also sprung forward and gave the colossal dog a punch straight into its snout. I heard teeth crack and felt the crunch. It stumbled backwards, and Don and Jamie chose that time to shift. They were in their wolf forms before the creature hit the ground. Chewing and snarling and barking, they didn't stop attacking until they knew it's heart stopped.

I bent down to look at the creature as it returned to human form. My stomach lurched, and I got extremely hot. Spots appeared in my eyes, and the world swayed.

"Marissa, are you okay?"

 _ **Jamie**_

Something weird happened when I touched the monster. It reminded me of taking drugs that make you wide awake. All of my senses brightened, and I felt great. It was like I took a bath in steroids and I absorbed it through my skin.

It appeared to have the opposite affect on Marissa. She was hunched over, holding her stomach. She was muttering something and starting directly at the floor.

"Marissa, are you okay?" asked Donovan.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, and started fanning herself. "Who do you think turned him?" She asked, looking at our victim.

I looked back, and I couldn't believe it. It was the short man at the front desk, the one that I mesmerized to let us stay here. I closed my eyes and used my enhanced senses to check the area. There was no other werewolf or creature in sight.

"There's no one around." I announced. "The true predator must have ran before we arrived."

But that's not what I actually thought.

"He was _not_ a regular werewolf," Donovan declared. "They must have used magic to change this guy. Something happened."

"Or maybe... He was ancient blooded, like us," I told them. My answer was met with nothing but complete silence. "Come on, think about it. Axel said we had a contagious disease."

Donovan laughed. "That's stupid. How can we infect a person if we never got near them?"

"I was near him. I mesmerized him so we could stay in the hotel. Then I did it again after I got us clothes."

He stopped smiling.

"But, haven't we been around alot of people? Like, when we first got to the hotel. We had to have bumped into somebody.

"No." Marissa added. "It was so late, the lobby was empty. Jamie carried you, and we just ran in there so fast that whoever was in there would only see a blur."

Donovan let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good, I guess. At least now we know that if we actually are contagious, we haven't harmed anyone else."

I looked back at the man, and remembered the last time I talked to him. " _Good morning, I was just shopping."_ The last time I talked to him was the day I went to the mall to get clothes for us.

I hardly even paid attention to him, didn't even get that close, and somehow, he had become a werewolf. So what was the trick? Was it being near us and catching lycanthropy, or was it the magic I used to mesmerize him?

"Wait..." Marissa spoke, interrupting my thinking process. "Jay... Did you get near anyone when you went to get us clothes?"

"I pretty sure that the mall was mostly empty, but I did talk to someone. It wasn't just a random person though, it was..."

The cashier. A person that works there daily, and could cause similar or worse damage than this guy did.

"Shit!" I yelled, and cracked the floor with my fist.

 _ **Unidentified**_

The man with the mysterious eyes was walking through the building he worked in. Business was booming, and it was midday, so lots of people showed up for work. He had casted a spell on his eyes, disguising them in public. Even though he wasn't concentrating like last time, he still had an eye on the five persons he was being threatened to watch. It might be better to say six, since a new contestant has entered the playing field.

He had received a random message from an untraceable source telling him to stop working. At 1:19, he was told to go into the elevator and go to the 19th floor, which was next to last up from the top.

That, of course, is exactly what he did. The vampires didn't allow any mistakes or screw ups, and for good reason. They didn't defeat werewolves with just sheer power alone. It took intelligence, planning and cunning, plus the magic that vampires could not possess. Without mages backing them up the werewolves would still rule. They were the only ones that could contend with the vampires, the only ones they saw as close to being their equals, despite the trash they always say to them.

The man in the suit wished the mages would rise up, but he knew how divided they were.

Nobody was studying the same thing. Everyone choose different paths, and it's hard for them to come together. Two mages fighting could cause twice as much destruction as a vampire and a werewolf fighting, but for some reason, they were seen as a minority.

The man intended to change that, if he managed to survive long enough. _"It's kind of ironic_ ," He thought to himself. _"I'm speeding up their time, making everything happen in their lives way too fast, while my own time is running out."_ He took solace in the fact that you aren't supposed to be able to speed up the lives of certain individuals, and that this was going to affect everyone at a later date. He might not live to see it, but this type of magic always backfires. It was only a matter of time.

After avoiding most of his fellow employees, he reached the elevator. There was a cleaning lady was inside when it opened, but she didn't step out. He didn't try to move forward either.

"You can come in." She beckoned him forward.

"No," he smiled, trying to be polite.

"I'll wait."

He'd either be killed for riding in the elevator with her and showing her the 19th floor, or he'd already outgrown his usefulness and she was there to take him out . The vampires always had ironic and symbolic ways to kill a person. Seeing a cleaning lady that's not cleaning is a bad omen. Especially if you were just told to report to a secret location.

The elevator came back, and this time, the lady wasn't there. He let out a breath of air. He hadn't noticed how nervous that made him. He felt like he might die from anxiety. He got in, and pressed 19. As the elevator went up, he looked at the sign next to the buttons.

 **Levels 17-20 have faulty wiring, and as a result, the door will not open automatically.**

 **You must push the button with the door open signal when the elevator stops. Thank You, and have a nice day.**

The elevator jerked to a stop, and like the sign said, it did not automatically open. Instead of pressing the button, the man pulled out the key card he was given, and pressed it against the black glass under the buttons. A red light appeared, scanning his card, and switched green.

The elevator door opened, and he walked inside. He was in some weird hallway that connected to three rooms without doors. There were no signs and no buttons. He started to move towards the one closest to his left, and three men popped out of the rightmost room, and hurried to stop him.

"Sir, excuse me. That's the wrong room. You don't have authorization to enter. Please step this way." The security guy that spoke motioned towards the right room again.

"If I had a key card to get up here, shouldn't all rooms be accessible?" He asked.

"Not today. Please step this way."

He said it politely, but the other men went behind him and forced him to move into the right room.

There was a bald man in the room, a long silver table with chairs that matched, and television monitors all along the back part of the room.

One camera clearly showed the park, but it wasn't stationary. It was moving, boy just side by side, it was actually moving through the park. It couldn't have been controlled by a human though.

It was moving perfectly, it wasn't bouncing up and down like it would be if someone was walking. There was another in a room he was familiar with. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was Allen's house, but that wasn't it. Every place he had been watching over was on display, even this building itself.

" , has arrived for his appointment."

Shaye turned around and looked at the guard. "How do you know my name?" He asked.

Don't worry about it, Shaye," called from behind him. "Personal information never leaves this building. We have work to do."


	17. Tested

_**Shaye**_

"Let me tell you the first thing you did wrong."

Paige and Shaye were sitting down, and Paige had started interrogating him. "You see this?" He asked, and motioned toward the monitors on the wall. "We can see everything you have been observing. The kids, the false witch, and the little girl. So why, when we told you _everything wa_ s secret, and that you only needed to know what we gave you, _why di_ d you start watching over this building?"

Shaye didn't reply. He stared at the man, making the next few seconds very uncomfortable.

"How can you see what's inside my mind?" Shaye asked, and his tone was different. He sounded angry. "Who gave you this power?"

Paige blinked at the question, and smiled. "We have other mages besides you."

Shaye stood up abruptly, and the lights in his eyes returned. _"I'm probably about to die,"_ He thought, and clenched his fists. " _I've been expecting this. I was dead when they found me anyways, this was just a second chance. And I failed_."

"Whoa, calm down. That's not the reason your here." Paige tried to reassure him, but it wasn't working. "Listen, I'm just trying to warn you. The next time... And neither of us will escape this."

That made Shaye stop and think. "Your trapped too?" nodded. "If you're not vampire, you're basically a servant. Did they capture you too?"

"Yea, I was captured, but I bargained for my life. I told them I could be useful, and thanks to my ability, I was spared. For this long, at least."

Paige looked at the cameras, and put his head down. "Look, just don't watch over this building anymore. I'm not the one that's doing all of this, I'm just the one making sure that you don't find out the wrong information."

He raised his hand, and Shaye shook it. "Okay." Shaye conceded. "It's that all? I'd like to go home."

shook his head. "No. The real reason is the monitor in the left corner." Shaye looked at it, but the screen was blank."What about it? It's not showing anything."

looked guilty. "You're not the only one with that type of magic."

He pressed a button on a remote, and the TV turned on. It showed a room that looked like a laboratory, and he instantly noticed the girl strapped to a bizarre examination table.

"What is this?!" He exclaimed. Those vampires that kidnapped her, they were working for us? Why is she strapped up to that thing?!"

Instead of answering, punched him in the face. Caught off guard, Shaye fell backwards. "I told you, if you learn what you aren't supposed to, we both might be killed!" Shaye jumped up, his bottom lip bleeding, breathing hard. The tiny balls of light came out his eyes, and moved towards . They came so far out of his head that the true color of his eyes were visible. They weren't normal, they were a really light bluish, and they glowed. It was probably because he was using his powers, because his eyes were black earlier. "I will make you so old the bones in your ribcage will break when you cough." Shaye said, trembling with anger. I will revert you back to the times when you still pissed on yourself. Don't _ever_ touch me."

didn't exactly raise his hands and surrender, but he did step back a bit.

"You wanted to learn something right? Now's the time." He pressed another button, and every monitor except the one with the girl. He c another, and all of the screens filled up with the footage of the girl. "Is this a live stream of her"

looked at him, then he turned back towards the screen. "We are seeing this from the eyes of Gabriel. Or the mind of Gabriel, however your magic works."

As Shaye looked on, he felt a twinge of sympathy, and guilt. "Is she hurting?" He asked, hoping for reassurance.

"No, and that's the amazing thing!" was smiling, looking overjoyed. "This girl-"

"Danielle," Shaye corrected.

"Yes, of course, Danielle." spoke with urgency. "Those three weeks are powerful, you know this. You should also know that they are so powerful, that what makes them werewolves, the curse, the moon, their blood, it is so potent that they can't control it. Their abilities leak out, and this is why they need to be killed."

"I already know this. The bats mentioned it during their last encounter with the big three, when they captured her."

Shaye pointed to the monitors that showcased a sleeping Danielle.

"Good," said . But do you know what it has done to her? She has a healing factor, super strength, and amazing speed. She could keep up with one of the vampires, and kicked their ass in the process."

"I'm certain she already did, the only reason she got captured was because they snuck up on her." Shaye added.

"Wow... well as you know, the vampires completely hate werewolves, and have been trying to eradicate them for the last 26 years."

Shaye's eyes widened. "So they're going to kill her?!" He exclaimed.

's eyes gleamed. "If that were the case, she would've been killed instead of captured. She's been brought here, because she managed to get work powers without transforming... Yet. So, what better to use against werewolves than a hybrid with both of their powers?"

 _ **Jamie**_

Just like the hotel guy, the cashier lady had also become a werewolf. Or at least, some bizarre, magical half form of it. Her big wolf form was about as big as the hotel guy's, but she had less rage, and less strength. Maybe it was because the mall was normally so empty she didn't have alot of stress.

I guess the hotel guy got tired of dumb tourists and snapped. Regardless of this, she still caused alot of damage in the mall. We managed to limit the damage to the store she worked on, but it didn't matter. Before we erased his memory, of the altercation, we overheard him say that the mall was closing down a month from now anyways.

Still though, there were a couple dozen people that were in the mall when the cashier transformed. The only one that got injured was the person that was at the register. He was a teenager, but luckily he hadn't been scratched, he just got thrown. He passed out after hitting a wall, but his injuries were not severe.

To stop the cashier, we cornered her in the shop she worked in, which was hard. She ran around like crazy, dodging us and destroying property.

We didn't use our wolf form because we didn't need to. She acted more like an agitated dog than a savage werewolf. I swung hard into the side of her face, and she flew into the wall. Don picked her up and slammed her, making sure she was unconscious.

Making his human fingers turn into wolfish claws, Don reached for her neck and ended the struggle.

Marissa, who had only been watching, moved forward and bent down to view the girl's face as her body shifted back to human. "Jay, promise me you didn't Mesmer or get close to anybody else." She straitened the girls legs and folded her arms together. The girls eyes were already closed, and her neck was bleeding profusely from where Don had ripped it open.

"I didn't get close to anyone else, I'm positive I didn't," I told her as Donovan moved forward and started kicking the girl.

Marissa punched him in his arm and started holding him back. "What is your problem?" She growled.

"E-vi-dence," he enunciated. "Why would you make it look like she's peacefully resting? Police will show up. Anybody who was here will believe that a feral dog was set loose, and that's what they'll tell the police. Don't complicate things by raising eyebrows."

She stopped fighting, and bit her lip.

"You're right." She said, "But we need to get out of here." The police sirens sounded close by. As we walked outside, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I stopped abruptly, and since I was in front, they bumped into me.

"Hey, dude, damn. Walk up." Donovan complained.

"What's wrong?" Marissa asked.

I looked up at the starry night sky. "The moon is full." I stated, without looking at either them.

"So?" Donovan replied.

"The real full moon was five days ago."

"What makes you so sure this isn't real?"

I opened my mouth to speak, and shut it. I refuse to argue with stupid people.

Marissa stepped in though."If this full moon was real, we'd be compelled to change. No thoughts or ways to fight against it."

Donovan thought about this for two minutes while we continued to walk in silence.

What if we're getting stronger, and the moon doesn't affect us anymore? Think about it, Axel said our aura was so powerful that it's causing these people close to us to turn into werewolves."

"I don't think those are connected." Marissa answered. "I mean, you turned Allen and somehow, he kicked your ass, but we took down the people Jamie turned easy as pie."

That made Donovan's blood boil. "I am _sick_ of you and-"

"Quit it, both of you." I chided. I kinda wished Marissa never imprinted on Allen. We weren't exact close before we met him, and we didn't even know each other that long before we got attacked and captured, but we were still a good team. Now, they mentally block each other and refuse to communicate. It kind of makes me wonder, what will happen when we finally find Allen, and what will it do to Marissa and Don?

 _ **Shaye**_

"I don't understand why you'd show me this, when you said I shouldn't learn to much."

rubbed his hand across his face, and started stroking his beard. "You aren't supposed to learn information that can't help you, but this is right up your alley. This right here," he tapped the screen of one of the monitors that was showing Danielle. "This is your area of expertise."

"Why was she closed off to me after she got kidnapped? Why couldn't I see her? Shaye urged.

At that moment, 's phone rang.

"One second." he requested. "Hello, who am I speaking to?"

"This is Butch, Stine, and Rickman. We are ready to begin the production."

"Excellent, excellent." Paige complimented.

"Is everything set up on your end, ?"

"It's _Dr._ Paige, and my side is almost ready. Go ahead and enter the room she's being contained."

"I didn't see a door open, but six people walked into view. Four of them had on labcoats, the other three had on a grey, a navy blue, and a black suit. Each one had earpieces, and they surrounded Danielle, almost completely blocking her from view.

"What are they doing?" I asked curiously.

"We've been watching her actions and letting the werewolf stuff progress. Now, they are going to inject her with vampire venom."

"What? All of them are vampires right? Why don't they just bite her?" took his eyes off the screen. "Werewolves and vampires are normally deadly to each other. No vampire would stuck a werewolf's blood unless they were fighting for their life."

I saw two of the people in the labcoats pull out syringes. They were filled with a shiny, metallic looking liquid. They injected them into each of her arms, and both of her arms started to twitch after they were injected with the liquid. Then, the man in navy blue pulled out a syringe with a very dark red in it, and the man in grey pulled out a syringe with a milky looking liquid.

"Vampires' blood, and vampire venom. clarified. Danielle started whimpering, then growling. Her face twisted from blissful sleep to horrible pain. She started screaming, and one by one, the suits and labcoats walked out. Her screaming grew so loud that we had to cover our ears. Armed guards came in, covered in armor, with their guns trained on her.

"This is why you're here!" shouted over her screams of agony. "They need you to watch over this!" The glass on the camera cracked, and the fractures showed on the monitors.

Then she screamed even louder, making the armed guards drop their weapons and fall to theirs knees. Next thing I knew, all the screens went black, and we heard nothing.

"What? No, no no no no!" screamed, banging the remote on the table. He stood up and punched one of the monitors, destroying it completely, causing sparks and smoke to appear.

That's when she broke my mind. The screaming started back, but it was inside our heads. The screens stayed off. and I both dropped to our knees, clutching our ears. I started to feel something trickling down my nose. When I stared at the floor, I saw that my nose was bleeding.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I roared over the madness.

"IS SHE CLOSE TO US?!"

The doctor was too busy writhing in pain, so he either didn't hear me, or he couldn't speak. I crawled over to him, and when I reached out to grab him, I noticed my hand were cover with blood too. My ears were bleeding.

I still grabbed him by his shirt, and forced him to look at me.

His voice had been reduced to a whisper, so I couldn't hear him, I had to read his lips.

"Not close." He mouthed. "Thousands of miles away."


	18. Danielle

_**Allen**_

As I walked into the bar, I saw a completely different crowd from last time. For starters, there actually _was_ a crowd. According to Sam, everyone hid from me last time, but now, aside from a couple careful glances, nobody cared. I moved over to the same stool I sat on last time, but someone was already sitting there. I sniffed the air around them, and immediately knew he was a vampire. I thought about questioning them then, but I decided to wait after a few drinks. I sat down next to him, and the bartender thrust his hand into my face.

With a hearty laugh he said, "Man, your probably the first one to make it back alive!"

"Excuse me?" I answered. What the heck was he talking about?

"You know, the witch girl. She's been coming in here, recruiting folks to help her with her little mission. Every time she came back, she was alone. I'd ask her what happened to them, and she'd say they died, fighting some big ol' something." If what he said was true, and I'm not the first to help her, how did she get other people to help her?

"I bet she used magic on them too, didn't she?" I asked. The bartender shook his head. "Each time, it was a different promise, a different trick. She'd reuse some of those tricks, but never back to back."

Listening to this guy made me hate her even more. "So, using magic, making the person like her and convincing them to help her, did she use that alot?"

The bartender stroked his beard. "Naw, that was trick number 7." I'd heard enough. I was about to start asking the locals about anybody suspicious, but the bartender continued.

"Wait! You must tell me how you survived. Did you... did you kill the witch?" I noticed that the vampire next to me, had turned his attention towards us. In fact, it had gotten quiet, and everyone was staring at us, listening in to the conversation.

After looking at everyone, I looked back at the bartender. "She must be a big deal around here."

"You're damn right she is." Said the vampire next to me. "Took my brother a month ago. Said she could reverse our vampirism. She came back two weeks later without him, saying he got mauled to death by some huge beast."

Another man sitting at one of regular tables walked over to us. He looked Italian, he had long hair put back into a ponytail, a lip ring, and cat eyes. "I remember that," he interrupted. "Everyone in the bar had a little... _disagreement_ that night."

"Why?" I asked. This time, the vampire spoke again. "It's kind of simple. Some thought that since she was a girl, I shouldn't hit her. The others thought I should rip her teeth out of her head until she told the truth about what happened to him."

The bartender laughed, and started passing out free drinks. He must have been drunk as well.

"That was the biggest barfight I'd ever seen. Fairies, werewolves, vampires, and wendigos. _Everything_ was fighting."

"Did you fight too?" I asked.

"I had to. Some of those bastards was just using the chaos to get free beer, so I had to..."

His voice started trailing off when he said free beer. He looked at us, and all the drinks he had filled since the conversation started. He started snatching the mugs of booze, making some of it slosh and spill. The group of strangers laughed and patted each other on the backs as the bartender pulled out a calculator.

He started punching some numbers in. "All of you owe me-" the vampire to the left of me pulled out a stack of cash. He tossed it onto the counter. "This should cover it, and pay for another round."

The bartender cracked a smile while everyone cheered and applauded the vampire. He waved them off like it was no big deal. "Let's get straight to the point guys. How did you stop that chick?"

They quieted down so I could tell my story.

"The only reason I agreed to help her was because she promised she'd help me find my roommate Jacob. In fact, that's the reason why I'm here today."

"Did she ever help you?" One guy in the back asked. A girl that had creeped her way up close to the vampire said, "No, you idiot, he just said that's why he's here. Shut up and pay attention."

After a couple of laughs from the crowd, I continued my story. "But that wasn't enough for me to completely agree to help her, so she promised to teach me magic." I made a purple ball of fire in my hands to emphasize my point. They didn't make _oohs_ and _ahhs_ but they did look at me with a greedy look. Almost like envy. "After we got to her house, she possessed me. She took over my body and I couldn't control myself."

That's when they all started muttering to each other.

"I knew she would do something like that."

"That witch is insane."

"I'd have killed her if she did it to me."

"Do you think she did it to my brother?"

I knew I was leaving things out of the story. I didn't even tell them I was a werewolf, but I'm sure they could notice by my smell. I didn't have time to go over every detail though. I had to start searching for Jacob as soon as possible.

I made a loud, obnoxious face cough. "Oh, I'm sorry." said the vampire next to me. "Yea, keep going." said the girl next to him.

"Anyways, her house and neighborhood was all an illusion. She lived in a mansion, and the houses around it were just security to make sure nothing got close."

The girl leaned in closer. "What happened when y'all got close?"

"They starting shooting and attacking us and she kept using me as a human shield."

This prompted more shocked whispers from the crowd.

"I healed quickly, because of my regeneration, and in her house we fought her sister, and a curse that had plagued her family for a generations.

The curse was like a ghost, thinking and speaking for itself, haunting them and hanging over their future.

I couldn't fight the curse outright, because it was too elusive, so we decided to destroy the house.

"Hell yea!" bellowed the bartender.

"That's what she gets!" cried a person to the left of me.

"In the end, the curse wanted to take her powers away from her, but she wouldn't let that happen. She gave me all of her powers to stop the curse from stealing them. Her sister died after giving her powers to her daughter."

They looked like they were waiting for me to say more, but that was it. Playing back what I told them in my head, I felt like the story was kind of lame. Maybe I should've lied and embellished the story. Or maybe I should've told the whole thing from the start.

"So you mean to tell me, that the witch is powerless?" asked the vampire.

"Yes."

"And you have all of her powers?"

"Yes."

"Are you cursed like she was?"

"No, I watched the curse die. The whole house exploded."

"Do you know where the witch is, or where she lives right now?"

"She left me a note saying she was going to the park with her niece. I don't know where they are going to stay. She won't be at my place for long though. I'm done being manipulated by her."

"Well, in that case..." He finished the rest of his drink in a couple of gulps, not stopping once for air. "My name's Elijah." He shook my hand. "I can't thank you enough. You've made this so easy."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, already realizing the obvious.

"I'm thinking what we're all thinking." Slowly, everyone started standing up, smiling, cracking knuckles and murmuring in agreement.

"It's time to kill that demented witch."

 _ **Shaye**_

By some miracle, I managed to wake up. I laid there, for an unknown amount of time, wondering if the screaming would start back if I moved again. Eventually, after my limbs started falling asleep, I began to move. I rolled over, and saw Dr. Paige surrounded by a pool of blood. There was no way he survived. I looked under me and saw that I also had lots of blood all over. My pool of blood was nothing compared to his though.

Still, I crawled toward him without standing up. I tapped his shoulder. No response. I flipped him over carefully, and was about to check his pulse, when I saw his eyes. Half-open, glazed, and they were pointed in different directions. His skin was cold. That told me all I needed to know. I stood up and walked towards the door.

It was locked, so I had to slam my shoulder against it to break it open. Back in the hallway that connected those rooms, I chose the left one, the one that they stopped me from going in the first time. But there wasn't anything in there. I felt the walls, looking for a switch, but found nothing.

I was about to give up, but then I hand an idea. I activated my eyes and looked closer. The room was a storage room. There was a small cabinet in the corner, filled with files. The rest of the room was completely filled with storage cases of vials, just like what they used on Danielle.

She must not be the first one they've tried this on.

I didn't understand how I had walked into the room without bumping into any of this stuff.

I waved my hand around and it went through all of the storage containers. There was some weird magic around it, but I didn't have time to figure it out.

I went back into the elevator, and chose the floor with my office was on. Walking into the same area as last time, I realized with shock that the screams had affected everyone. The whole building was completely silent. There was blood and bodies everywhere. Some people were kneeling in corners, some had banged their heads against the walls. One or two had even jumped through the windows, and this was the 14th floor. I went over two my desk, and my papers had bend scattered. Well, _everything_ had been scattered, but it seemed someone had deliberately ruined my desk. I looked under it, and almost had a heart attack. A man was under there, laying in a fetal position. Blood was streaming out of every orifice, and he was still shaking.

I crouched down and reached out to him. "Hey, are you okay? We need to leave. This place is a death trap."

As soon as I touched his suit, he stopped moving completely. "Hey. Hey!"

I touched his neck, and he grew cold all over. I stood up and backed away from my desk. My hands were trembling. How... How did he suddenly die like that? That wasn't me... It couldn't have been my fault. He was bleeding out anyways, but why did he just... I would've covered my mouth with my hand but my hands were covered in blood.

I felt like I was going to vomit, and I got dizzy. The office area started spinning, and I wobbled around, trying to remain upright. I needed to get out. The blood, the bodies, the people, I couldn't take it anymore. I walked back to the elevator and tripped over some woman in a pantsuit. That was the last straw. I retched and vomitted loudly. I was throwing up so much it felt like I was choking, I couldn't breathe. I tried to calm myself down, and remind myself why I was here.

The kids. Allen, Donovan, Marissa, Jamie.

And Danielle. I was supposed to be watching every single one of them. Out of all of them, she was the one who had it worst. She could be dead right now. That's the reason they wanted me to watch her now. That's the reason I met in that room. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine where Danielle was.

In the room where Danielle was hidden, the security guards with guns were dead on the ground. She was still in that examination chair, but there was a peaceful look on her face again, like she was sleeping.

I'd never done this before, but I used my powers to invade the space. I put my voice in that room, and tried to see if she was alive. I couldn't tell just by looking for a heartbeat. If they succeeded, she wouldn't have one.

"Danielle... Are you still alive? Danielle, answer me."

Her eyes opened, filled with a dark, disgusting red that made my flesh crawl.

When she spoke, her voice was so soft and innocent, it didn't match her face. I was starting to wish I hadn't bothered her.

"Who is this?" She asked. "Where are you, what am I, and who you did this to me?"


	19. The Charm

_**Allen**_

I knew why this was important to them. I understood where they were coming from. I don't want say that old corny crap, but killing Sam wouldn't solve their problems. They'd just feel a small amount of satisfaction and sooner or later would go back to brooding over the person they lost.

I couldn't let them get to Sam. As I fought the mob, I was being meticulously careful not to seriously wound any of the invaders. Incapacitating them was harder than killing them. I was bashing their heads into walls putting them into choke holds, and trying my best not to rip out their throats with my claws.

Every now and then, I ran back upstairs to make sure they hadn't broken in and gotten to Sam. The last guy I beat didn't seem to have any type of supernatural ability at all. I noticed it instantly when he picked up a mop with one hand and wielded a knife in the other. I shrunk down from my huge wolf man form and Judy hit him hard with my regular fist. He passed out easily. Once again, the silence was unnerving. I ran upstairs and bumped right into Sam?

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I was coming to you." She said. "The sound of fighting stopped, so I thought it was over. Is it?"

I didn't respond immediately, I was trying to see if I could sense anything else.

"No, I don't think so. I may have knocked out most of them, but the leader, Elijah... I haven't even seen him yet."

Sam squinted in the darkness. "How do you know he's the leader?"

"Because I saw them before they reached the house, and Elijah was at the top of the rally."

Sam gave me a devilish smile, and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

She grabbed me by my throat, and lifted me in the air.

"You are." She answered, in deep, disturbing male's voice. Elijah's voice.

"H-how did you..." I could hardly speak, her hand was crushing my windpipe.

"How did I what?" She/he spoke again. "How did I get up here without you noticing?"

She pulled me in closer and raised her other hand.

"No," I replied. "How did you get inside of Samantha?" Without waiting for a reply, I tried to grab Sam's hand to free myself. She noticed, slammed me against the wall, and twisted my arm into a full 360. I screamed in pain as I heard a loud popping sound. I don't think it was broken. It felt more like it was dislocated.

"Taking control of this witch was simple. Every supernatural creature has a magical trick up their sleeve nowadays. I'm surprised you haven't noticed."

I lifted my feet up and kicked Sam away from me. Thanks to my strength, Sam went crashing into the opposite wall, giving me time to regain my bearings. I watched my arm unwind as I tapped into my wolf side. It was disgusting, but I had no time to think about it.

"Get out of her Elijah." I snarled. "What's the point of doing that anyway? I thought you were seeking revenge."

Sam gave me a crooked smile. "Of course I want revenge." Elijah spoke. "But I can't think of a better way to do it. You, my friend, are an inspiration. Speaking of that, I don't think I ever got your name."

"It's Allen," I growled as I lunged after her/him. I thought I was quick, but Sam moved ten times as fast as normal. Elijah made an ugly, shrieking sound with Sam's body and flipped right over me. I turned around swiftly, but she stopped attacking me. She bolted for the stairs, and I chased after her.

"What is your endgame?" I yelled. "What are you planning?!" I had to keep my anger under control. Using a bit of the wolf power was one thing; Accidentally going into the full wolf man form would could end up killing Sam.

At the bottom of the stairs, I had to hop over a couple of unconscious people. I turned to look for Sam, and found people floating. They were still obviously unconscious, but their bodies floated upright.

"I feel... Like it would be ironic," said Elijah through Sam, "If I possessed the witch just like she possessed you." He broke into a laugh. "Do you get what I'm saying? I was thinking, what if I used her to kill herself? Or to burn down this house? There's an endless amount of possibilities, because she had screwed EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!"

The people that Elijah had suspended in air started glowing red. There was red light behind their eyelids as well.

I still couldn't locate Elijah. He might as well have been a disembodied voice, because I couldn't place it anywhere.

"We've all lost family!" He continued. "We've all lost blood. That's why, I'm so curious to find out why you are defending and protecting this freak. Was the story just beer filled lies, grasping for attention? What's your relationship with the witch? Maybe she still possesses you now, in ways you don't even know."

"Shut up." I demanded. I need her alive to help me find my roommate. After that, I don't care what you do."

All the people floating split into two separate groups and hit the walls. The ones on the right cracked the windows, and I almost expected them to keep flying out of it.

"Lies." snarled Sam. "You and this witch have a more... _complicated_ relationship than that.

I'm reading her mind Allen, your lies are pointless. I see the _passionate_ side, and I see the conflict as well. But I don't know which to believe."

"Why do you need to believe?" I asked him. "Why do you even care?" Sam's body flew towards me, and I lifted my arms in defense. I backed into the wall, but she stayed as close as possible.

"I care because, if you're on our side, you'd let us kill her."

"And if I was on her side?"

"Then I'd burn this house down with all of you inside it."

 _ **Jamie**_

"I know this sounds stupid, and we're all tired, but I think we should go back to Allen's place." said Marissa. "Before you snap at me, think about it. The hotel is a no go. We can't even find proper shelter because now we know for certain that we have... something bad. Talking to people, getting close to them, is a very bad idea. So we should go back to using Allen's place as our hangout."

Marissa looked back and forward to both of us, waiting for our verdict. Donovan surprisingly spoke first. "I agree," he said, shocking both me and Marissa. "If we're lucky, he'll just show up again looking for his pajamas or house shoes and we won't even have to search him out."

Marissa smiled. "Okay. What do you say Jamie?"

I looked up into the sky, starting back at the fake full moon. "I think we should too. But we should do it tomorrow. I don't want to run into any creature tonight, and some people won't be able to resist the moon even though it's fake."

Marissa looked surprised. "Really?"

I nodded. "I once went to school with a werewolf kid who snapped after staring at a interesting moon wallpaper. It's not always about the moon's magic. Sometimes even the symbol of it can have an affect on people."

Donovan stared at the moon for a minute and yawned. "That's settled then. We sleep in the park for another night."

 _ **Allen**_

"If you're reading her mind, what do you see? What are you thinking?" Sam's face was so close to me I could feel her roof breathing on my neck. She hit the wall next to my face, completely punching right through it.

"I'm thinking that I should kill you right now." growled Elijah through Sam.

I couldn't put it off any longer. I transformed into my wolf man form, and roared as loud as I could.

Sam made an audible groaning sound and leapt away from me.

"Eww! Why did you do that?" shrieked Sam, in her _actual_ voice. She started wiping off my saliva from when I roared.

"Sam, are you back? Speak to me!" I tried to say, but it came out as unintelligible grunts. I forgot that my wolf form couldn't speak.

I shrunk back into my human form, and tried again. "Sam... Do you have control again?"

The look of disgust on Sam's face disappeared, and she smiled. In Elijah's voice, she said, "Nope." He/she laughed. "You thought it would be that easy?"

Sam raised her hands and some of the unconscious people rose up again. I didn't wait to see what they were capable of, I ran headlong into Sam and tackled her. Then, transforming as quickly as possible, I shifted my upper body into the wolf man form and roared as loud as I could into Sam's face, spraying a ton of spit.

Sam's normal scream returned, but she still possessed Elijah's strength. She hit me dead in my chin and sent me flying into the floating unconscious people.

Wiping off the saliva, Sam's body trembled.

She started panting and growling. She looked at me menacingly. "Allen," she growled, looking like she was about to explode.

"Everyone is unconscious except the guy controlling me. There's no way a vampire can use all this magic at once. I sensed four knocked out mages in this room. The anti magic barrier _has to be down by now. DO SOMETHING!"_

 _Sh_ e grabbed her head and let out a loud groan, and when she pulled her hands away from her eyes, I knew Elijah hay regained control.

He had a fit of fury and started hitting the floor with his (or Sam's) fist.

He cursed at the top of her lungs in his ugly, masculine voice.

I took this as my chance. I leapt to my feet, and when Sam tried to stand I made a flocking motion with my wrist and she slammed against the wall.

 _She was_ _right!_ I realized. My powers were back.

The first thing I did was reactivating all the lights with my mind. It was kinda hard to see without my wolf vision. As I did it, Sam regrouped and tried to reanimate the unconscious bodies. I didn't understand that. What was the point of them floating? He'd done it like three times and they still hadn't attacked me.

I wasn't going to wait and find out though. I waited till they started to glow and then I imagined the bar scene the way it was when I walked in. Except this time, all the patrons were unconscious, with they're drinks and food in their hands. The color that made them glow began to fade as little cracks of light crisscrossed all over their skin.

Everyone can except me, Sam, and Elijah, who was still inhabiting Sam's body.

I outmatched him now, by a wide margin. A look shone in Sam's eyes that I hadn't seen since we were at her childhood home. Fear.

Sam backed herself into a corner as I moved forward. "After all she's done to you. "You make me _sick_." Elijah tried to spit on me but it caught on fire and evaporated before it came close.

"I need her help, but I'm on nobody's side but mine."

The look in her eyes switched back to anger.

"Keep thinking that." Elijah said these last words as Sam's eyes fluttered to the back of her head.

There seemed to be some dark shadow sliding off her skin, making her look better. I followed the shadow all the way down from her head to her feet, until it slithered under mine. I frantically jumped out the way, not wanting to get possessed by him, and when I turned around, he was standing behind me.

I moved towards him, and he started backing back. "Wait... You aren't going to kill me are you?"

"No. I made need a favor later on."

"Like what? I will never, _ever_ agree to help the witch girl."

I laughed.

"Nothing like that. I made need a partner later on, because I'm sure Jacob was kidnapped due to all of this supernatural mess. I also need information, if you can find out anything."

He eyed me suspiciously.

"Will I be able to kill the witch after that?"

I looked back at Sam, who hadn't moved since Elijah left her body. I didn't care for her, but I knew damn well I'd never let him get the chance. "Fine, but I know for a fact she's going to learn magic again. If you don't get me the information I need, if we don't find Jacob fast enough, she'll be back at full power. And she'll be able to kill you and torture you as much as she wants."

I was kind of joking, in my mind at least, but Elijah took my words to heart.

He looked at me with a serious stare, eyes filled with determination.

"Trust me, I won't let that happen."


	20. Houseguests

_**Allen**_

I knew why this was important to them. I understood where they were coming from. I don't want say that old corny crap, but killing Sam wouldn't solve their problems. They'd just feel a small amount of satisfaction and sooner or later would go back to brooding over the person they lost.

I couldn't let them get to Sam. As I fought the mob, I was being meticulously careful not to seriously wound any of the invaders. Incapacitating them was harder than killing them. I was bashing their heads into walls putting them into choke holds, and trying my best not to rip out their throats with my claws.

Every now and then, I ran back upstairs to make sure they hadn't broken in and gotten to Sam. The last guy I beat didn't seem to have any type of supernatural ability at all. I noticed it instantly when he picked up a mop with one hand and wielded a knife in the other. I shrunk down from my huge wolf man form and Judy hit him hard with my regular fist. He passed out easily. Once again, the silence was unnerving. I ran upstairs and bumped right into Sam?

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I was coming to you." She said. "The sound of fighting stopped, so I thought it was over. Is it?"

I didn't respond immediately, I was trying to see if I could sense anything else.

"No, I don't think so. I may have knocked out most of them, but the leader, Elijah... I haven't even seen him yet."

Sam squinted in the darkness. "How do you know he's the leader?"

"Because I saw them before they reached the house, and Elijah was at the top of the rally."

Sam gave me a devilish smile, and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

She grabbed me by my throat, and lifted me in the air.

"You are." She answered, in deep, disturbing male's voice. Elijah's voice.

"H-how did you..." I could hardly speak, her hand was crushing my windpipe.

"How did I what?" She/he spoke again. "How did I get up here without you noticing?"

She pulled me in closer and raised her other hand.

"No," I replied. "How did you get inside of Samantha?" Without waiting for a reply, I tried to grab Sam's hand to free myself. She noticed, slammed me against the wall, and twisted my arm into a full 360. I screamed in pain as I heard a loud popping sound. I don't think it was broken. It felt more like it was dislocated.

"Taking control of this witch was simple. Every supernatural creature has a magical trick up their sleeve nowadays. I'm surprised you haven't noticed."

I lifted my feet up and kicked Sam away from me. Thanks to my strength, Sam went crashing into the opposite wall, giving me time to regain my bearings. I watched my arm unwind as I tapped into my wolf side. It was disgusting, but I had no time to think about it.

"Get out of her Elijah." I snarled. "What's the point of doing that anyway? I thought you were seeking revenge."

Sam gave me a crooked smile. "Of course I want revenge." Elijah spoke. "But I can't think of a better way to do it. You, my friend, are an inspiration. Speaking of that, I don't think I ever got your name."

"It's Allen," I growled as I lunged after her/him. I thought I was quick, but Sam moved ten times as fast as normal. Elijah made an ugly, shrieking sound with Sam's body and flipped right over me. I turned around swiftly, but she stopped attacking me. She bolted for the stairs, and I chased after her.

"What is your endgame?" I yelled. "What are you planning?!" I had to keep my anger under control. Using a bit of the wolf power was one thing; Accidentally going into the full wolf man form would could end up killing Sam.

At the bottom of the stairs, I had to hop over a couple of unconscious people. I turned to look for Sam, and found people floating. They were still obviously unconscious, but their bodies floated upright.

"I feel... Like it would be ironic," said Elijah through Sam, "If I possessed the witch just like she possessed you." He broke into a laugh. "Do you get what I'm saying? I was thinking, what if I used her to kill herself? Or to burn down this house? There's an endless amount of possibilities, because she had screwed EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!"

The people that Elijah had suspended in air started glowing red. There was red light behind their eyelids as well.

I still couldn't locate Elijah. He might as well have been a disembodied voice, because I couldn't place it anywhere.

"We've all lost family!" He continued. "We've all lost blood. That's why, I'm so curious to find out why you are defending and protecting this freak. Was the story just beer filled lies, grasping for attention? What's your relationship with the witch? Maybe she still possesses you now, in ways you don't even know."

"Shut up." I demanded. I need her alive to help me find my roommate. After that, I don't care what you do."

All the people floating split into two separate groups and hit the walls. The ones on the right cracked the windows, and I almost expected them to keep flying out of it.

"Lies." snarled Sam. "You and this witch have a more... _complicated_ relationship than that.

I'm reading her mind Allen, your lies are pointless. I see the _passionate_ side, and I see the conflict as well. But I don't know which to believe."

"Why do you need to believe?" I asked him. "Why do you even care?" Sam's body flew towards me, and I lifted my arms in defense. I backed into the wall, but she stayed as close as possible.

"I care because, if you're on our side, you'd let us kill her."

"And if I was on her side?"

"Then I'd burn this house down with all of you inside it."

 _ **Jamie**_

"I know this sounds stupid, and we're all tired, but I think we should go back to Allen's place." said Marissa. "Before you snap at me, think about it. The hotel is a no go. We can't even find proper shelter because now we know for certain that we have... something bad. Talking to people, getting close to them, is a very bad idea. So we should go back to using Allen's place as our hangout."

Marissa looked back and forward to both of us, waiting for our verdict. Donovan surprisingly spoke first. "I agree," he said, shocking both me and Marissa. "If we're lucky, he'll just show up again looking for his pajamas or house shoes and we won't even have to search him out."

Marissa smiled. "Okay. What do you say Jamie?"

I looked up into the sky, starting back at the fake full moon. "I think we should too. But we should do it tomorrow. I don't want to run into any creature tonight, and some people won't be able to resist the moon even though it's fake."

Marissa looked surprised. "Really?"

I nodded. "I once went to school with a werewolf kid who snapped after staring at a interesting moon wallpaper. It's not always about the moon's magic. Sometimes even the symbol of it can have an affect on people."

Donovan stared at the moon for a minute and yawned. "That's settled then. We sleep in the park for another night."

 _ **Allen**_

"If you're reading her mind, what do you see? What are you thinking?" Sam's face was so close to me I could feel her roof breathing on my neck. She hit the wall next to my face, completely punching right through it.

"I'm thinking that I should kill you right now." growled Elijah through Sam.

I couldn't put it off any longer. I transformed into my wolf man form, and roared as loud as I could.

Sam made an audible groaning sound and leapt away from me.

"Eww! Why did you do that?" shrieked Sam, in her _actual_ voice. She started wiping off my saliva from when I roared.

"Sam, are you back? Speak to me!" I tried to say, but it came out as unintelligible grunts. I forgot that my wolf form couldn't speak.

I shrunk back into my human form, and tried again. "Sam... Do you have control again?"

The look of disgust on Sam's face disappeared, and she smiled. In Elijah's voice, she said, "Nope." He/she laughed. "You thought it would be that easy?"

Sam raised her hands and some of the unconscious people rose up again. I didn't wait to see what they were capable of, I ran headlong into Sam and tackled her. Then, transforming as quickly as possible, I shifted my upper body into the wolf man form and roared as loud as I could into Sam's face, spraying a ton of spit.

Sam's normal scream returned, but she still possessed Elijah's strength. She hit me dead in my chin and sent me flying into the floating unconscious people.

Wiping off the saliva, Sam's body trembled.

She started panting and growling. She looked at me menacingly. "Allen," she growled, looking like she was about to explode.

"Everyone is unconscious except the guy controlling me. There's no way a vampire can use all this magic at once. I sensed four knocked out mages in this room. The anti magic barrier _has to be down by now. DO SOMETHING!"_

 _Sh_ e grabbed her head and let out a loud groan, and when she pulled her hands away from her eyes, I knew Elijah hay regained control.

He had a fit of fury and started hitting the floor with his (or Sam's) fist.

He cursed at the top of her lungs in his ugly, masculine voice.

I took this as my chance. I leapt to my feet, and when Sam tried to stand I made a flocking motion with my wrist and she slammed against the wall.

 _She was_ _right!_ I realized. My powers were back.

The first thing I did was reactivating all the lights with my mind. It was kinda hard to see without my wolf vision. As I did it, Sam regrouped and tried to reanimate the unconscious bodies. I didn't understand that. What was the point of them floating? He'd done it like three times and they still hadn't attacked me.

I wasn't going to wait and find out though. I waited till they started to glow and then I imagined the bar scene the way it was when I walked in. Except this time, all the patrons were unconscious, with they're drinks and food in their hands. The color that made them glow began to fade as little cracks of light crisscrossed all over their skin.

Everyone can except me, Sam, and Elijah, who was still inhabiting Sam's body.

I outmatched him now, by a wide margin. A look shone in Sam's eyes that I hadn't seen since we were at her childhood home. Fear.

Sam backed herself into a corner as I moved forward. "After all she's done to you. "You make me _sick_." Elijah tried to spit on me but it caught on fire and evaporated before it came close.

"I need her help, but I'm on nobody's side but mine."

The look in her eyes switched back to anger.

"Keep thinking that." Elijah said these last words as Sam's eyes fluttered to the back of her head.

There seemed to be some dark shadow sliding off her skin, making her look better. I followed the shadow all the way down from her head to her feet, until it slithered under mine. I frantically jumped out the way, not wanting to get possessed by him, and when I turned around, he was standing behind me.

I moved towards him, and he started backing back. "Wait... You aren't going to kill me are you?"

"No. I made need a favor later on."

"Like what? I will never, _ever_ agree to help the witch girl."

I laughed.

"Nothing like that. I made need a partner later on, because I'm sure Jacob was kidnapped due to all of this supernatural mess. I also need information, if you can find out anything."

He eyed me suspiciously.

"Will I be able to kill the witch after that?"

I looked back at Sam, who hadn't moved since Elijah left her body. I didn't care for her, but I knew damn well I'd never let him get the chance. "Fine, but I know for a fact she's going to learn magic again. If you don't get me the information I need, if we don't find Jacob fast enough, she'll be back at full power. And she'll be able to kill you and torture you as much as she wants."

I was kind of joking, in my mind at least, but Elijah took my words to heart.

He looked at me with a serious stare, eyes filled with determination.

"Trust me, I won't let that happen."


	21. Dog Eat Dog

_**Jamie**_

We waited till midday to walk to Allen's place. We would've been there earlier, but it was a beautiful day outside. Besides a couple wispy clouds in the sky, the weather was perfect. A cool and relaxing breeze we'd constantly blowing, and by the time we woke up there are dozens of kids flying kites in the park with their families. They either thought we were lazy teenagers that worked at the park, or they hadn't seen us earlier, because they didn't say anything about homeless people playing with their kids.

We didn't actually look homeless, but it should have been obvious because of Marissa's hair. She kept trying to comb it down with her fingers, bit it wasn't much help.

"God I hope I can find a brush in here," she said as we walked up to Allen's door.

I reached for the door, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I felt a small volt of electricity. I raised my hand up to stop Donovan and Marissa. "Don't move," I whispered. "There's magic here."

"Do you think the vampires sent mages after us?" said Marissa, loudly, even though I had just lowered my voice.

Donovan rolled his eyes and tapped her shoulder, but spoke with his mind.

" _Duh, why else would Jamie stop_ _from moving forward?"_

Before they could continue their little spat, I snapped my fingers at them and pushed the door open. The lights were completely off, but the curtains were open, letting in some sunlight.

We walked all the way into the house, and there was Allen, sitting upright on the couch attending to some girl that was sleeping.

"Hey, what's up man?" He looked up at me and smiled. He stood up and have me a handshake.

"Man, I've been through alot of crap this past week."

Marissa, who came in last, nearly tackled him when she gave him a hug.

"Oh my God! You idiot! What took you so long to get back?" Then she looked over his shoulder to the sleeping girl, and her face dropped.

"He noticed, but didn't react in anyway. She's the reason I've been gone so long. She asked me to help her with her family, put a spell on me to make think I wanted to help her, and used me as a shield against the demons inside her house. She's done this to dozens of people.

Marissa's eyes turned lupine and bright. "Then why the hell is she here?"

Allen smiled, unfazed by her death stare. "Because the dozens of people that she did this to wanted revenge. Well, their families and friends did. I met them in a bar and the next thing I knew all of them came here trying to attack -"

"Can we hurry this up? We have way more important stuff to do." Donovan interrupted.

When Allen turned toward him, his whole attitude changed.

"Was I talking to you?"

"No, but I'm talking to you. We got several things to deal with, and we especially need your help with the vampires-"

"I don't have to help you with anything." Allen stopped him. He walked away from Marissa backwards and turned back towards the sleeping girl. "I've got someone else I need to find, and you're not stopping me."

Oh crap. How did he already know about Danielle? Marissa started feeling guilty, I could sense it. "Allen, I'm sorry, we tried but-"

"What do you mean, you don't _have to hel_ p us? This is your problem too, idiot! You've been stuck with us since the day you freed us, and you better get used to it." Donovan thought about what he said for a second, and laughed.

"In fact, you _don't_ have to get used to it. You're gonna do what I say, and when I say it." He poked Allen's chest after he said each word. "You don't have a choice!"

Allen raised his leg and kicked him through the door. It splintered and shattered into hundreds of pieces. Allen charged outside after him.

"Don't interfere," I told Marissa. "I'll put an end to this as quick as I can. I ran outside, but Allen was gone. I only saw Don, picking himself off the ground, and wheezing a little. I imagined what getting kicked in the chest like that would feel like and my own chest twinged with sympathy.

I opened my mouth and started to ask Don if he was okay, when out of nowhere, Allen came from my side and hit me dead in my jaw.

"Who do you think y'all are, saying I don't have a choice? Y'all don't control me! Nobody does!"

As soon as his fist made impact, I blacked out for a second. Or two. I just know when I opened my eyes, I was on my side, about ten extra feet away from Allen, and something wet was trickling down my chin. I rubbed my face, and noticed it came from my mouth.

That's when the pain kicked in. Spots filled my eyes, I got a headache, and my mouth started throbbing like crazy. This was worse than drinking or eating something that burns your tongue. This was like... This was like...

It was like when the vampires pierced our tongues with metal rods so we couldn't speak.

Before I could blackout from the pain, I clutched my mouth and prayed I was wrong. The stinging sensation was so painful I had started crying. My mouth had filled up with liquid, but I was so scared to open my mouth I started to choke. I didn't want to swallow either.

Still, I had to know if I was right or wrong. I tried to wiggle my tongue, and the excruciating pain that came from that was exactly what I expected. I kept my mouth covered with my hands, but I opened it a little, and watched the blood pour out. I had bitten _completely_ through my tongue when Allen punched me.

My vision narrowed and got worse at the sight of the blood. I crawled away from it and laid on my back, staring up at the sky. I started counting in my head, trying not to think about the pain, and trying not to vomit. Before I hit twenty, the world went black.

 _ **Marissa**_

After I saw Jamie collapse from one hit, I knew we were in a lot of trouble. I looked back at the sleeping girl, and fought the urge to kill her in her sleep. I had bigger problems. If Donovan hadn't bragged about being Allen's Alpha, they wouldn't be fighting. I heard growling and turned back to the door.

Donovan had risen to his knees and was slowly shifting. Allen, who looked ready to commit murder, was taking his time walking toward him. Then, Donovan jumped and tried to shift completely, but Allen stopped it abruptly by grabbing Don by the neck.

"I don't see why Axel couldn't beat you. You seem pretty worthless to me." Allen threw Don back towards the house, and he crashed through the wall next to me. "What's wrong with you?!" I screamed. "You're wrecking your own house!" But Allen didn't seem to care. Donovan came out as soon as Allen got close to the door, and this time, they actually fought like humans, using their fists and punching each other. It didn't take long for Don to get tired of this. When it started to look like Allen was winning, Don roared and his face shifted and became wolfish. He bit Allen on the neck and Allen screamed in pain and rage. He tried pounding Don's back, but Don wouldn't let go.

I tried to scream stop, but my voice literally made a squeaking noise. I backed away from them, hoping I wouldn't get hurt in the process.

Don kept his hold on Allen, and I saw an extreme amount of blood coming from his neck. "Don!" I pleaded, my voice cracking. "Stop!"

But they continued. Allen wasn't giving up. He picked up Don and was about to slam into the house when Don went to his full wolf form. The gigantic dog was to big for Allen to carry and he dropped to his knees.

No. Not again. I couldn't let Allen die. I couldn't let him leave me again. I ran forward, not even thinking about transforming, and tried to pry Don off Allen. I tried for about ten seconds before Don pushed me out of the way with one of his front legs. He got me harder than I expected, and I went flying through the air, landing a little bit past Jamie. I was so determined to stop them, I got up too fast and felt nauseous. A couple of spots flooding my eyes and I started retching a little. I had nothing to throw up because we hadn't eaten, my body was just acting out for no reason.

I clearly couldn't stop them, but Jamie might've been able to. It's easy to wake up an unconscious person with our wolf connection. I crawled towards him to see what type of damage Allen had caused. Jamie normally heals quick, but that doesn't mean he wakes up as soon as he heals.

When I reached him, I put my hand on his forehead. He was burning hot, and even though I hadn't check his pulse, I could feel his heart beating fast. Blood was trickling down his lip.

I leaned in closer to him and tried to connect, but he started convulsing. "Jamie, Jamie! What's wrong?" I shook his shoulders but he didn't respond. I tried to connect again, despite his shaking. " _Jamie, what's happening to you?"_ I thought in my head. I didn't actually expect a response, but he answered immediately.

" _Choking. Open my mouth and turn me over. I can't move."_ I did exactly as he instructed in my head, and a pool of blood gushed out of his mouth. My nerves went bad and I stifled a scream. " _What happened to you?"_ I thought. " _How did this happen?"_ Even though he was still unconscious, his disembodied voice in my head seemed to find my reaction funny.

" _It was worse."_ He replied. " _Way worse. If you had gotten here 4 minutes ago you would've seen half my tongue come out with all that blood."_

"Eww!" I screamed out loud. I punched him for putting that image in my head.

" _Wake up and stop them!"_ I tried to scream in my mind. " _If I could I would, but I guess I'm still in shock because I literally felt my tongue floating around in my mouth before I passed out!"_

He had a point. I wouldn't be too eager to wake up either. Meanwhile, a shrill scream interrupted our conversation. I was only curious because it didn't sound wolfish, or like anything I'm used to hearing from Don and Allen. It sounded feminine. I looked back at the fight, and it looked like Allen had stopped resisting. Then, his body sprouted hair and he started to get back on his feet. He rose higher and higher until Don was smaller than he was. Still, in Allen's mysterious wolf man form, the wound and blood on his neck was prominent.

 _"I think Allen was affected by our wolf powers way more than the other humans. It almost seems like he's surpassed us."_

I had to agree. None of us had ever achieved his wolf man form, and it seems to be the only form he has, because Allen had never transformed into a regular big wolf.

Allen clearly had the upper hand now. He grabbed Don by the tail and slammed him backwards and forwards, over and over again.

Allen laid the big wolf Donovan sprawled like a bear rug, and covered his upper body with his left hand. With the right, he closed it to a fist and pulverized Don's legs. Don's screaming kept shifting from a howling dog to the sound of a human being burned alive.

"How can you see him?" I asked out loud, forgetting that he was speaking through my mind.

" _I can see and hear through your eyes and ears, because we're a pack. As long as you trust me, and as long as you let me, I can see what you see, from your perspective."_

After hearing that, I decided I didn't need to talk with my mind again.

"Does that give you access to my emotions?"

" _No, but you imprinting on Allen is obvious, and it can't be hidden."_


	22. Wolf Men

_**Marissa**_

Allen finally let go of him. He kicked him in the side, and Donovan rolled over in the grass.

Allen tried to speak, but made a bunch of warbling yelps like an angry puppy.

But Donovan recovered faster than I expected. Barking viciously, he made another leap for Allen's throat. Allen tried to grab him and stop him but Donovan anticipated this. He faked right and jumped right on Allen's arm. Running all the way up, he lunged for Allen's throat, sinking his teeth in deep once again.

I could see the pain in Allen's eyes now. His pretty brown eyes started to water, and he moaned in pain. "Donovan, let go!" I demanded, still scared to get close. He kept acting like I didn't exist.

Allen grabbed Donovan one more time and l squeezed him till he yelped.

He plucked Donovan off his shoulder, and raised him up to his face.

"Weak... Dog." Allen growled, and dropped Donovan on the spot.

His voice was scary. So deep and scratchy, as if he was growling as he spoke. I'd never seen him talk in this wolf form, and this was probably the first time he's ever done it.

"Been this way... For years." he continued.

"But You haven't achieved... This. You are weaker than me, and yet you caused this to happen..." He slowly began to get better at speaking. "You've filed your own death sentence."

Donovan tried to attack again, but Allen slammed him to the ground again five more times. On the last time, when Allen removed his hand, Donovan was back in human form, bruised up and bloody. I hurried up and threw Allen's jacket over him, covering his... unmentionables.

Allen slowly turned back himself, starting at the face and slowly getting smaller. When he returned to human form, I was shocked to see he still had clothes on.

"What the hell?" I said to him.

"What?" he replied, dumbfounded. I pointed at his chest. "Oh. The girl in there did this with a spell. My clothes stay the same after I transform."

As much as I didn't want to like her, I wanted to see if she could make this happen for Donovan, Jamie and I. Being a werewolf would be so much easier if we didn't have to worry about our clothes.

"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" screamed Donovan. He struck Allen in the face and held him against the wall. Donovan had started shifting into the wolf form, but some of his bones must have been broken, because he wasn't shifting correctly. Fur was sprouting all over, and his legs transformed first, making him look creepy and awkward as he pressed Allen against the wall.

"I AM stronger than you! You are going to do what I say!" He started banging Allen's had against the wall. Even in the middle of his crippled, slow transformation, he still had strength to do some damage. Allen's blood covered the wall after the second hit.

"I am the _Alpha!"_

At this point, I realized it was hopeless. They're going to keep ignoring me so I might as well not even try.

He jacked up Allen, and pulled his face close to his. "You are going to respect me. You are going to apologize and help us with the vampires. You have no choice. Do you understand?"

Allen's eyes matched his even though he hadn't transformed back into his wolf form yet.

"You..." Allen paused. "Are going to kiss my black-"

Donovan kicked him through the wall with his jacked up, half formed, wolf legs before Allen could finish his sentence. "Why doesn't he listen to me?!" Donovan screamed, and I wasn't sure if he was talking to me, or himself. "Why doesn't he do what I say?! I'm the alpha!"

He started banging his own head, and tried to transform more. His body wasn't healing great enough though, and some of his bones that grew too big started jutting out of his skin, wounding him even more. His face was scowling as he tried to fight through the pain.

"Maybe, he became a werewolf like the ones Jamie infected, through magic, or just our auras." I suggested. "Maybe he doesn't have an Alpha."

"Or maybe Donovan's too weak to be my Alpha."

said Allen. Donovan and I both look towards the hole, but he didn't appear. "This ancient blooded bullcrap you guys mentioned must be a lie. Surely, you can do something better. What about your predecessors? What about me?" Allen still hadn't showed himself, but I could hear him from every direction.

"Why can I do this and you can't?!" He shouted.

Then, the ground under Donovan broke apart, and Allen sprung from it, in his wolf man form, hitting Donovan and sending him flying into the air.

When Donovan got close to landing, Allen slapped him with his hand like he was playing badminton. Donovan went spiraling into another house on the apartment complex, collapsing a huge wall and causing lots of damage. I hoped that apartment was empty.

"How did you do that?" I asked Allen. "Did you dig a tunnel in your own house?!"

Allen started grunting a little before he was able to speak English, so I guess it's difficult to speak that way.

"No... I did not... Dig a tunnel. I have that... girl's powers." He then grunted harder, which may have been choking. He spit blood on the ground, and looked back at me.

I was completely astounded. Is it even possible for a werewolf to gain someone else's magic powers? We had developed magic from the moon, and other spellcasters that feel in love with werewolves decades ago, but to take another creatures powers completely... I wasn't sure you could do that, and still have both abilities.

"What did I miss?" asked Jamie, I looked back and he was walking toward us, popping his neck. "I thought this would be fine by now."

After that, Donovan stared screaming repeatedly. Not a long scream, but dozens of sorry screams, then one long one, followed by more short screams.

"What's gotten into him?" Jamie asked me.

"I think he's going insane because Allen won't obey him."

"He's losing too, isn't he?"

"Uhh, I guess so."

We heard clashing and clanking, he must've been having a tantrum. All kinds of things started flying from the apartment; a sink, a refrigerator, a microwave, and a couch. Everything flew in different directions, so Donovan was just throwing randomly.

"I'd stop him, but I think Allen is better suited to do so." Jamie said, grinning. It looked weird, but Allen heard him and grinned too.

Finally, Donovan one last long guttural scream, and everything else went silent.

"Do you think he tuckered himself out?" Jamie joked. A massive shape jumped from the wreckage, and landed in front of us. It's footsteps created an earthquake, knocking me and Jamie off of our feet.

I couldn't believe my eyes. In front of us was Donovan, in his own huge wolf man form. The big brown monster was slightly taller than Allen, and looked a little bit more muscular too.

Donovan stared at his own hands for a minute, not believing it himself. Then he stretched, and let out a continuous roar that might've been laughter. He turned back to Allen, and stared speaking in grunts. When he realized Allen couldn't understand him, he put his hand to his mouth, and then to his throat. He growled again, and while he was trying to figure out why he couldn't talk, Allen struck him.

And Donovan didn't budge.

Allen was swinging at him left and right, hitting him square in the face. He was doing damage, but Donovan acted like he felt nothing. Donovan grabbed Allen's left arm, and snapped it inwardly at the elbow. Allen screamed and his blood gushed out all over the wall, and some splattered on me. Jamie picked me up and carried me further away from them, but didn't lead me into the house.

"Why aren't we going in there? Doesn't that make more sense?" I asked.

He let me go and looked at me. "Would rather have full eyes on this situation, or take cover in shelter that they could stomp to pieces on accident?"

Fair point.

I looked back at them, and noticed they fought like... people. They weren't scratching and clawing like werewolves normally did in battles, they were fighting consciously, fully intent on killing the other.

But werewolves can heal from almost anything, so I doubted either of them would succeed.

Donovan grabbed hold of Allen's head and attempted to smash it on his knee, but Allen bit into Donovan's thigh. Donovan yelled in pain and gave Allen the distraction he needed. Allen tackled him and relentlessly punched his face, every blow shaking the ground more and more as blood started to cover his beastly fists.

Donovan, with no time to recover, no time to regain his bearings, was trapped under Allen. He couldn't even shield himself, Allen was punching him too quickly. Fortunately, Allen started to get tired. His punches were slower, and fewer in-between. When they came to a stop, Donovan had already stopped moving.

Allen backed up, and pointlessly wiped his hands on Don's chest, spreading Don's blood all over his body, but it really didn't do anything to get it off his hands.

He exhaled, and even that sounded like growling. He was about to get off of him when something alerted him. His gigantic ears perked up and he started looking back at Donovan, a growl in the back of his throat.

" _What happened now?"_ I thought to myself.

 _"Allen was able to read his mind and realized that Donovan was just playing possum."_ Jamie replied. I wasn't really asking him, but I accepted the information anyway.

Allen reared back his fist, and just by seeing the effort in his face, it looked like he was about to put everything he had into that punch. That punch probably would've caved Donovan's skull in.

Right before he struck, I shouted as loud as I could, "ALLEN DON'T!"

And he froze. Completely. Inches from Donovan's face, he didn't move a muscle. His body was shuddering a little, but he held that position, and did not ignore me.

"I can't believe this." said Jamie. Allen wasn't moving, and Donovan dropped his at and took notice. His growling got louder, and then he through Allen off of him, into the same building he had crashed into earlier.

"Donovan don't! Enough of this!" My words didn't gave the same effect on Donovan. He continued to completely disregard everything I said. He leapt over to that building and dragged Allen out of it, who was still in his wolf form, still conscious, but unmoving. He didn't try to fight back or defend himself. He didn't retaliate at all.

Donovan grabbed the same arm he had snapped earlier. It had already healed, but the blood that covered it remained. This time Donovan dislocated it and broke Allen's fingers.

Besides screaming, Allen didn't react to it. He didn't fight or try to get up.

"Donovan stop it! He gave up! WHY ARE YOU STILL FIGHTING?!" I yelled.

Jamie tapped me on my shoulder. "Allen didn't give up, you did. You told him not to fight him, and Allen hasn't. Do you know what this means?"

I did, but I didn't understand why. "How am I the alpha though? What did I do?"

Jamie smiled, a mischievous smile that unnerved me. "Well, even though Allen isn't like the people my aura infected, I'm sure the amount of... erhm, time... you spent with him could have affected him alot, don't you think?

I understood what he meant after a few seconds, and I started blushing.

"Okay, but do you think you could have controlled those people?"

He thought about it. "Uh, no. That's why I think you must have done something really kinky the night they-" I punched him as hard as I could, and then realized that something did happen that night.

"Wasn't the full moon out that night?" I asked.

"Yea." replied Jamie. "What about it?"

"I may have scratched Allen before we went on the Hunt."


	23. Tired

"What do you mean by you _may have scratche_ d him? Was it an accident? Were you trying to restrain yourself from killing him?"

"No. I carved a little heart shaped scar on his shoulder with my fingernail."

Jamie's eyes widened, and he looked like he was about to explode. Before he could chastise me, and call me an idiot, I put my hand over his mouth.

"You may think that's bad, but look at us. Look around us. Don't you remember yesterday, and the day before? Technically, what I did was a _good_ thing. If that hadn't happened, he would have become some insane half beast like those two that _you_ created. Now tell me, which is the better outcome?"

I saw the guilt in his face, I knew I had won the argument before it had even started. "Well, from your point of view, I guess _this_ ," he motioned towards the giant man wolves fighting, "is the better outcome. Thanks for that."

" _You're welcome_." I sneered back. I didn't like his attitude or his sarcasm.

"If we had known that sooner, we could have found him a long time ago." said Jamie.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute, right now you need to help Allen."

Donovan was gloating and showing off, jumping on Allen's arms, and legs trying to break them.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"What do you think?!" Jamie screamed. "You told him not to hit Donovan, or, more specifically, all you said was don't, so the only thing a beta wolf in his position can do is nothing. _Don't_ do anything, that's what he's mind is thinking."

"What makes him a beta?" I asked right as Donovan picked up a car and was about to bring it down on Allen.

"SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING!"

"ALLEN!" I screamed. "FIGHT!"

When Donovan swung the car downwards, Allen jerked into action. He pulled his knees in close to his chest and kicked up right when the car came in his range. It smacked Donovan in the face, making him stumbled back a few steps. Allen made haste and got up before the car crashed to the grown, with superhuman speed.

The car was sideways, the bottom facing Allen and the top facing Donovan. Allen punched it repeatedly, forcing it into Donovan's face and knocking him over once more. Don started to fall, and the car was going right along with him.

All of it's glass shattered one they hit the ground, but Allen ruined the car completely because he jumped on it while Donovan was under it. The car was almost completely flattened were Allen had jumped, it wasn't even recognizable.

"See? There. Allen wins." Jamie clapped his hands in approval. Allen didn't seem to think so. He kept his gaze locked on the car, slowly backing backwards. If we hadn't moved out of the way we would've been stomped on for sure.

I thought it was over too, and then I felt a hot feeling in my head and chest. It was like something was pressing on my head and chest, trying to squish me. I raised my hand, but that just made it even worse. Spots appeared in my eyes, and for some reason, I couldn't hold my own anymore. I swayed and almost fainted, but luckily Jamie caught me.

"He's really pissed, isn't he?" He said, eyes narrowed, watching the car like Allen. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I didn't think I could muster the strength to do so. Jamie say me down in the grass, and everything. Went haywire.

I instantly got angry, for absolutely no reason. I was growling and fur started to appear on my arms. I grabbed Jaime by the throat and strangled him while my claws kept growing until they pierced his neck.

My skin was boiling and starting to bubble. I couldn't stop myself from choking Jamie, and I felt the blood from his neck cover my hands.

He looked surprised, but didn't try to fight back, and just allowing me to choke him.

" _Do something!"_ I mentally shouted.

" _Wait_." he replied back, calmly. " _Look back at the car."_ That may have been easier for him, even though he was the one being choked. I could barely move, and when I did it either increased the headache or burned my skin more.

I managed it, And after the blinding pain subsided, I got a blurry view of Donovan sticking his fist through the center of the car. He did the same with his other arm, and ripped the car in half. Allen and I both thought he was going to throw them out of his way and charge at Allen, because Allen stood his ground and stooped low, expecting to flip Donovan off his feet.

But Donovan flung the part of the car in his right hand towards Allen's face. I heard a loud crunch when it made impact, so it probably broke Allen's snout, or even his jaw.

Donovan aimed the other at Allen's left knee.

After being hit the first time, Allen through that part of the car behind him and shielded his face, but didn't touch it. It must have been too painful. The second shot to the knee was the end of it though. Allen kneeled but tried not to injure it further, and Donovan fully extended his clothes. I thought he'd raise his fists and pummel Allen so more, but Donovan was done playing games.

He went straight for his throat, cutting and slashing it nonstop. It was enough to snap me out of the fiery demon possession, or whatever was happening to me. I dropped Jamie and jumped to my feet. I opened my mouth to scream and make them listen to me, but just as I made a sound, Jamie covered my mouth and tackled me from behind.

He started gagging and coughing before he could tell me why he did it, and as soon as he regained control, he spoke.

"No. Don't interfere anymore. Last time you almost got Allen killed."

I tried to get up, but he had me pinned down.

"There's not much difference between last time and now! Look! Donovan's going to rip his throat open if we don't do something!"

Jamie didn't look worried. He didn't look like he cared at all.

"Don't. Do it."

Donovan was now roaring with each strike,

And blood was squirting everywhere. I thought he would collapse. He dropped to his knees, holding his throat, and crawled away from Donovan.

I could feel the pride swelling in Don's mind.

He started barking and shouting, and now, I could hear inside his mind, so it almost seemed like he was talking out loud.

" _Now you can see who's boss!"_ he yelled telepathically. If I concentrated hard enough, I could easily hear that his wolf man form was still making unintelligible barks and grunts.

 _"You thought you were stronger than me, you thought you could defy me, but you are just as weak as I expected. All bark, and no bite."_

Jamie let go of me and rolled his eyes. " _You couldn't say that crap a few minutes ago when he nearly beat you to death."_

Luckily for Jamie, Donovan was on a whole nother level of telepathy, one that we haven't reached. He couldn't hear our thoughts, but he was so unaware that we could hear some of his.

" _It's about time you learned your place."_ said Donovan. He reached out his hand to grab Allen by the chin. He was going to lower it to the ground and step on his head, a symbol of inferiority.

Allen raised his hand above his head, and Donovan faltered. Realizing Allen was surrending and not attacking, he decided to gloat again.

 _"It's about time you learned your place."_

He raised his leg again, and the ground shook under his feet. He wobbled a little and I wondered what was going on. The ground steamed, and suddenly, he sank to his waist like the ground was made of quicksand.

A miniature ball of red light appeared in front of him, and it gave off a humming sound as it hovered in midair. He struggled to free himself, but the earth wouldn't budge.

He turned his attention to the tiny ball of light, which began to get a brighter red. It was still within his arms reach, so he lashed out at it with his claws and howled.

It retaliated the moment he did that. First, it flew backwards at of his reach and then he buzzed loudly and flew straight into his head. The small orb must have been powerful, because he jerked back hard when it flew into his face. It disappeared, and he was out cold.

"What was that?" I asked Jamie. "I think the girl woke up and used her magic to help Allen." he replied. "I hope it didn't kill Donovan." I said, as I walked up to Donovan.

"I wouldn't blame her if it did." said Jamie.

Allen, who was slowly transforming back, was breathing heavily. When he transformed back from wolf to human, he looked angry and tired.

"If I was completely serious I could have killed him." he said, still rubbing his chest.

I couldn't see the wounds, but I was certain he was still in pain. I looked back to Donovan, still trapped halfway in the ground, unconscious. I got to my knees and began to dig.

"Don't bother." said Allen. I'll remove him, just give me a minute."

"How did that girl do this?" I asked him.

He gave me a confused look. "Sam didn't do this, I did. I helped her and her family destroy the curse that possessed them, and she gave me her powers so the curse wouldn't take it away from her. She's powerless, for now at least."

I got off of my knees and backed away from Donovan. Allen walked up to him and examined his face I had a sudden suspicion that he would slap him, but he lifted up Donovan's chin and murmured something. His eyes flashed scarlet, and he let go and backed away.

"I know this is kind of different than what you're used to, this whole... thing" Allen waved his hands, pointing out Donovan's new form. "But can you get him out of this form, and back to human?"

I looked at him crossly. I was mad at both of them, not just because they wouldn't listen to me, I was mad because I didn't know who to root for.

"Why? Did you just try to do that, or did you hurt him some more?" I said, with attitude.

"No. I charmed his body so that the next time he goes wolfie, his clothes won't rip and we won't have to see his little birthday suit."

"Oh." Was all I could say. They were just fighting to the death and now all of the sudden he was helping him?

"I think you meant little birthday present." said Jamie. They both laughed and gave each other a handshake.

"Don't worry, I'm going to charm all of you so you won't keep running out of clothes like the Incredible Hulk." Allen said while performing the charming thing on Jamie.

"Wow, I think I feel different too." Jamie flexed his fingers and arms, wondering if he had changed our not.

"Nope, that must be some kind of placebo. I didn't feel anything when Sam did it to me. Then again, she's better than I am, so I guess I can't give you my opinion."

I put my hand on Donovan, and established a mental connection. "Donovan? Don?" He was ignoring me. Even when we are unconscious we can talk to each other. I did it with Jamie earlier when he said he got his tongue out. Speaking of that, I'm pretty sure that we Allen's fault, but he was hanging with him like that didn't happen.

Since Donovan was ignoring me, I decided to try to make him revert back to normal a different way. I made my hand shift into a claw. I shoved my claws into his chest, right over his heart. I didn't grab hold of anything important, but I used one close to reach further into his chest and poked his heart. His body jolted like he had been electrocuted and he started to shift back.

I removed my hand and made my claws disappear. Then I wiped my hand in the grass.

"You know you could've just grabbed his spine, right?" asked Jamie.

"You know you could've just grabbed his spine, right? I mocked him.

Donovan's wolf man form was completely gone, but he had on no shirt. "What? I thought you told me his clothes wouldn't rip anymore?"

"I was right, they won't. He wasn't wearing anything the last time he transformed."

Jamie tapped my shoulder. "You through Allen's jacket over him, remember?"

"Ohhhh, you're right."

Allen raised his hands and his eyes glowed yellow. All of the destruction began to repair itself, starting with his house, and then the house they crashed in. The car was the last thing to be fixed, but Donovan remained in the ground.

"I'm not going to free Clifford the big brown Doofus until you get him some clothes." He clapped his hands and smiled. "Chop to it."


	24. Hot

_**Jamie**_

Marissa was the last one to come back inside, because she had to get clothes for Donovan. After she got them, she took them outside and Allen freed Donovan from the dirt.

He did it without watching, of course. We were both inside explaining to the other girl what happened when Marissa told us she was ready. Allen shook his hand a tiny bit and we felt an intense rumbling from outside. Minutes later, Marissa came in carrying Donovan in a fireman's lift.

"Okay, now that we're all here, we need to figure some things out." I said, starting the conversation. "The first thing I want to mention is that Marissa is obviously your alpha."

Allen's eyes widened in fake surprise. "Really? I hadn't noticed." he said sarcastically.

She must have felt guilty, because she starting speaking quickly. "Allen I'm so sorry! I know how it feels to be under someone else's control and I want you to know that I didn't actually try to turn you into-"

He waved her off. "Shhh. It's fine. I'd rather it be you than him." He pointed to the unconscious Donovan on the couch. "We can already see what type of alpha he is. He acts like a megalomaniac."

I moved in closer to him and checked his arm. Sure enough, there was a heart shaped scar on it. The heart was small, but very obvious. He looked at the same thing I looked at, and flipped out.

"What the heck is that?! How did that get there?" He started rubbing it furiously, as if that could make it go away.

"It's a scar, Allen." I patted his shoulder. He kept staring at it and flexed his muscles, trying to make it move. "It looks more like a tattoo." He told me, smiling.

"It's not a tattoo," I told him. "It's a scar. It's the reason you're a werewolf. Because of that scar, you've been attacked and hunted by vampires. And guess who gave it you."

He kept staring at me, waiting for my answer, while I took a glance at Marissa. She glared at me, infuriated.

"Who's side are you on?" She screamed.

I smiled for a second, but then I wondered, why _did_ I do that? I'm not vindictive, and I don't dislike Marissa at all. I don't spite her, and she's never crossed me. Maybe Donovan was starting to wear off on me. I don't know what happened.

"Wait, so you did this to me?" He asked her." She stopped looking at me. "It was the night you saved us. I imprinted on you the moment I saw you, and imprinting is like a crush, except it's deeper... and more possessive."

She waited for him to respond, but he said nothing, and waited for her to keep talking.

"Anyways, that night, there was also a full moon, and you know how weird we start to act when the full moon comes and-"

"I've never been affected by the full moon." Allen interrupted.

"That's kind of confused me for a while. I mean, at first I barely noticed it, but whenever I was alone, whenever I had a chance to think, I was wondering why I couldn't turn into a normal wolf like you guys, and why the moon doesn't turn me."

"It's probably because of the... man, what do we call it? Virus? Disease? Contagion? Anyways, We, the ancient werewolves, are so powerful that our power leaks out, and infects others. They become wolf like creatures, but they aren't werewolves and that don't respond to an Alpha. They run around insane until we put them down.

I... Inadvertently, created two of them by getting near them. This is a problem. We probably affected you and Danielle before you even became a werewolf." He looked at us, and touched his chest.

"Do you think Danielle is one of those too? Where is she?"

I looked at Marissa, and she looked at me, equally surprised and frightened.

"You... You don't know? I thought you knew." said Marissa.

"You thought I knew what? What's going on?" He looked back at me, and I accidentally took a step back, which probably made us look more guilty.

My voice somehow managed to remain calm. "Allen, who did you say you were you searching for earlier today?"

"I didn't say his name this morning, but it's Jacob." He slowly walked toward me, and his eyes glowed with malice. "What are you both hiding from me? You have ten seconds before you become a chew toy."

Marissa said nothing, and the other girl just watched in fascination.

"Allen... Danielle was taken. By the vampires.

 _ **Shaye**_

"GET OUT OF THERE! RUN!" I tried to get her to escape, but she wouldn't listen. After I explained who had kidnapped and what happened to her, she just sort of shut down. She didn't respond after I told her, but she did break free. She sat on the examination table with her legs crossed and her hands in her lab.

I put more strain on my mind, and discovered that more vampires were coming. She wouldn't listen to me. "Aren't you working for them?" She said softly. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Danielle, listen. All they hired me to do was watch over you and your friends."

She looked up and around, probably searching for me. It creeped me out because her eyes were still a dark, bleeding red. "My friends... Allen, where's Allen?!" She went from looking in random directions to right where I was. Or technically, where my magic had materialised.

A loud whistling sound pierced my mind, and almost disrupted the connection.

"Danielle, wait!"

The sound stopped.

"Allen is safe, they haven't gotten to him yet."

She still seemed skeptical. "All you did was say that, you didn't search for him."

The whistling started again, but it was soft at first, then growing louder and louder until it was painful again.

"Okay! Okay! Give me a second, and I'll search for him!" The whistling continued, and I was starting to think that she didn't believe me, when it finally subsided. Not wasting a second, I concentrated all my efforts on Allen.

I was really tired, and still in pain from earlier, so the image in my mind was a little distorted.

It appeared as though Allen and Donovan just been fighting, and Donovan had ended up unconscious. Besides that, they were discussing something, and it looked like Marissa and Jamie were afraid.

"Allen's doing just fine!" I informed her. "In fact, he's back with the group."

Danielle's face lit up, and I saw that her eyes were starting to return to normal.

I didn't know the terms of Allen's relationship with Danielle, so I decided not to mention Sam, the witch girl.

"Really? What are they doing?" She asked, looking hopeful.

I tried to hear them, but I didn't have enough energy. I was utterly exhausted, and terrible at lip reading, but I was sure I could guess what was going on. Marissa and Jamie had stopped talking, and shared nervous glances. That wasn't a good sign.

Then Allen walked up to Jamie, angry, and threatened him.

That's when it hit me. Allen did not know what happened to Danielle. But they did. Well, they knew she got kidnapped, but he didn't.

That's why they were so nervous to tell him. From the looks of it, he wasn't taking it so well either. He pushed past Jamie, opened the door, and broke into a run.

"It seems to me... That they might be coming for you."

She looked kind of excited now. "Are you serious?" asked Danielle.

"Yes. I am. Which is why you need to get out of here before those vampires come. Who knows what they might do."

She laughed, a creepy, maniacal laughter that lasted too long. "If Allen's coming to save me, I should just wait here. And those vampires are going to do more to you then they will to me."

As soon as she said that, I knew she had a point. But outright killing me is still better than them experimenting on her repeatedly like some exotic tree frog.

I broke the connection with Allen because I knew exactly where he was headed. I was probably officially on the kill list, so Danielle wasn't my problem now. I needed to save myself.

"Danielle, are you going to be okay?"

"Duh."

"I'm going to escape, and I advise you to do the same. After I get out, I'll find Allen and bring in the calvary."

"What calvary?" she asked.

"The wolves are planning to retake the sky. With Allen, they think the four of them can do it."

She laughed. "Against thousands of vampires?"

"Keep in mind, you just killed hundreds of them." I reminded her. "Plus, there's something special about the four of them that the vampires can't even begin to comprehend."

Suddenly, my vision went black. I couldn't see Danielle or the room she was in anymore.

"I think that's enough out of you." said someone I had never heard before. My vision cleared, and I was still in the office, surrounded by death.

I couldn't see who had spoken to me, and I didn't hear anything breathing.

"Where are you?" I said, staying on guard. "Who is this?"

"Isn't it obvious? We both do the same thing, and i know for a fact Dr. Paige mentioned me earlier."

I thought long and hard, it was on the tip of my tongue. I remember Paige telling me, " _You're not the only one with that type of magic."_

Gabriel. This man was Gabriel. If he truly had the same power as me, that means he probably wasn't in this building. "Gabriel. That's who you are. What do you mean you think that's enough of me?"

"Wow, you catch on quick." His voice sounded loud in this room filled with silence.

"You're done. Not only do you know too much, I've found out you have been plotting against us the whole time. Calvary, I think you called them? That's funny, because the strongest member is our biggest puppet. Did you think Sam was just a coincidence?"

I heard enough. I made a break for the elevator and mashed the button. I wasn't sure if he was skilled enough to teleport here to kill me, and I didn't want to find out. As soon as the elevator dinged, I banged on it, praying that it would move faster.

"That's pointless," he called out to me. "You'll never escape that way. I was so anxious I almost didn't notice it. There was a ticking sound coming from the inside of the elevator. I immediately ran away from it, and I had about 7 seconds before the blast hit. The force from the blast threw me forwards and I cut my jaw on the side of a desk.

I didn't let it faze me and hurried to my feet.

"There's not a lot of options, Shaye. Stop fighting. You should've died the moment Danielle screamed, like everyone else in that building."

I opened the door to the stairs and smelled smoke. I wasn't sure how far down or was, but the rooms below were on fire.

"Did you do this?!" I yelled, looking to the ceiling.

He didn't respond. I saw an orange glow from down there, and knew that it was spreading upward. I closed the door to the stairs and looked for an alternate escape route.

I couldn't go through the elevator, and the stairs were engulfed in flames.

I scanned the room until my eyes landed on the broken glass. I looked at the window, and mentally slapped myself. "I _must be out of my mind."_ I thought to myself. " _This is the fourteenth floor."_

There was another loud explosion, this time coming from upstairs. The ceilings started to give way to some of the heavier things, and suddenly, huge desks and storage containers were falling from upstairs.

"You better hurry." Gabriel spoke again. "I have an escape. You don't."

So he was here! He must have been teleporting in and out, destroying things, planting bombs, and burning everything. He must have been told not to kill me outright, or I'd have been dead.

" _That's exactly right."_ he said to me, this time in my head. " _Those cameras still work, so when the police come, I can't be seen as a criminal."_

I stepped over some bodies and moved closer to the window. "How well the cameras explain what happened to everyone here? There's no way you can get away work this!"

" _I can if you end up looking like the criminal."_

No matter what happened, I was still trapped.

I closed my eyes and tried to call upon all the magic within me, which wasn't much.

I figured I had enough for one destination, and afterwards I'd either be sick as a dog or comatose.

I stood on the edge of one of the broken windows. I accidentally looked down and scared myself. Fourteenth stories up. I stopped hyperventilating and focused. Going home was impossible.

I had the image of where I wanted to go in my mind, and took a deep breath. " _Ekat em ereht."_ I chanted, and jumped out towards the streets below.


	25. Siblings

_**Jamie**_

We could barely keep up with Allen. He was moving with unstoppable speed, leading us to God knows where. We had left behind Donovan, because he was unconscious, and the girl Allen had with him, because she had no magic and there was no way she could keep up.

Don and Marissa and I, we had tracked our speed before. We could run up to three times the normal human speed, about 84 miles per hour. I was guessing Allen was doing way more than that because I was actually getting tired trying to catch up to him.

I thought about putting on a spurt of energy, just enough to catch up and tackle him, when he finally slowed down. "We're almost there," he panted, and I was happy to hear he was too.

I still wanted to know why he was so different and so strong.

Actually, I suppose he isn't as different as we thought he was, since Donovan bridged the gap and discovered the wolf man form himself.

Maybe we just had to train harder. Allen certainly pushed Donovan to his limit, and he was really only playing with him, because he had magic. He could've taken him out in the first ten seconds if he wanted to.

If Donovan can do it, I can do it. I was always naturally stronger than him anyways, even though now he's clearly past that. If all of us could use that wolf man form, it would give us a huge edge over vampires. But first , we had to get Allen to help us.

When he stopped to catch his breath, I realized that he had taken us to Danielle's house, and it looked exactly as it did when we first came.

I didn't think he would listen to me if I told him we already came, and it would be even worse if I told him what happened to her family.

After we all had rested for a second, he walked up to the door and knocked. Marissa and I gave each other odd looks. It was clear she didn't want to tell him either.

It only took a minute for someone to answers, and it was a little boy, barely taller than the doorknob. "Hi." He said smiling, not scared of us, or wary of strangers at all. I figured and adult would show up in a second, so I tried to see what I could find out quickly.

"Hey, little man!" I crouched down and gave him a high five, which he stared at for a second before he did it back.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Dominic." He replied happily.

"I know you might not remember, or believe me, but do you have a sister?"

I was legitimately surprised when he nodded his head. "Yea. She's in her room sleep. She gets mad when I play with her stuff without her."

"Can you take us to her, DumDum?" asked Allen.

Dominic giggled with delight. "That's what my sister calls me!" Allen gave Dominic a smile, but it wasn't the type of smile that I would trust.

He grabbed Allen's hand and led him inside. We followed closely behind them and I shut the door.

The house was a little cleaner than I expected, and there was a sweet smell in the air. Dominic started to take us further into the house, towards the back, and I hesitated. It didn't matter that they were hexed, this was still trespassing.

"Guys, wait a second. What if the parents catch us?" I was at the back of the group, and they gave me a confused look.

"You waited till after we were already inside to think of that?" said Allen. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. They've known me since middle school."

He walked right into a bedroom with Dominic, and we all followed.

Inside was a pink and white room, with toys scattered all over the floor. There was a princess bed to the side, and it had pink curtains falling down over all sides of the bed.

A child, probably no older than three, was playing around and tripping over her toys.

"Here she is! Say hi Delmy!" Delmy looked at us, giggling louder and ran over to meet us. She didn't say hello, but she took something out of her mouth and put something in Allen's hand.

"Ew." said Marissa. "What is it?"

He looked back at us, and then to Dominic. Be looked angry, and I thought he realized what happened.

He didn't.

"How did she get this? What's wrong with you?" He demanded Dominic. The little boy's face fell, unsure why he was getting in trouble. "She saw me eating it, and she wanted some..."

"Never give this to her. _Ever._ She's still a baby. She could choke on things like this."

Dominic nodded, staying silent.

Marissa felt bad for him, I could see it on her face. "What did he give her?" She asked.

"A jolly rancher." He replied.

I picked up Dominic, and tossed him into the air a couple of times. He immediately started laughing and shrieked "Again! Again!"

Marissa smiled and Allen picked up Delmy.

"Danielle must be busy somewhere."

"Huh?" said Dominic. I stopped bouncing him and he looked at Allen. "What?"

"I said, Danielle must be busy somewhere."

"Who is that?"

"Your sister."

"Nuh uh. Delmy is right there." said Dominic, pointing to Delmy in Allen's arms.

"I'm talking about your older sister. Danielle."

"I don't have an older sister."

Marissa put her hand on Allen's back, and I set Dominic down. "We told you," she whispered, "She was taken by the vampires."

Allen didn't respond. He looked at Delmy for a minute, then gently put her back on the floor, handing her the toys she was playing with earlier.

"Markus, who are these people in our house!?"

We turned around, startled to see Danielle's mother behind us. I knew this was going to happen.

Allen took a step forward. "Ms. Valdivia it's me. I was just wondering if you knew what happened to Danielle-"

"Get away from me!" She pushed past him and picked up Delmy. She yanked Dominic towards her by grabbing his wrist, hard, and retreated to a corner in the room.

"Take what you want, just please don't hurt us." she cried.

I grabbed Allen, forcibly trying to take him out the room. Markus is obviously her husband's name. We had to get out before they called the police, or attacked us.

Just then, a dark haired Hispanic looking man burst in, looking shocked and angry.

"Markus, hel-" Danielle's mother stopped mid sentence. I looked back at her, and she was petrified, frozen in place, eyes glowing purple, a small aura surrounding her. I turned back towards Markus, who had also frozen in the exact same way.

"What is this?" Marissa asked, moving closer to the mother while Allen moved towards Markus. I looked at the children, who were completely unaffected. "A mage must be close by." I told them. "They've caught us."

Dominic went to his mother and started tugging on her arm. "Momma, momma what's wrong?"

He tried to shake her shoulder, but she couldn't move. He started crying and saying something in spanish I couldn't understand. I saw the aura start to surround him as well, and I yanked him back away from her.

"Marissa! Get the baby!" I tried to stop the magic from reaching him, but he had already frozen. Marissa held Delmy in her arms, who still had not been affected. She didn't seem upset that her family was frozen, probably because she was too little to understand it.

"Don't fret." Spoke Danielle's mother, in two voices, a male's, and her own.

"I have stopped them to protect them. And you.

I am not the source of evil that put the first hex on them. I am here to help you discover the truth, and free your friend Danielle."

That last sentence angered Allen. "What do you know about Danielle?"

The light faded in the mother's eyes for a moment, and then she spoke again. "I don't know where she is, but I've talked to her. And I know exactly who you have to face to get her back."

The light faded again, and when she spoke next, she sounded sleepy. "Before we do anything else, we need to-"

The purple aura disappeared, and her face went slack. Markus, behind us, dropped to the floor. Dominic didn't collapse, but the aura surrounded him turned white.

He spoke with a voice that scared the crap out of me. "Of all the places you could've gone to hide... You picked the dumbest, most obvious place possible."

I'm not going to lie, I almost dropped Dominic. I set him down gently and looked at his eyes. They glowed white, but they looked lazy, like he was half asleep.

"This is a different person," I murmured. "Something must have happened to the other guy."

"I assume this is the first time they are hearing either of us, am I correct, Shaye?"

Allen, Marissa and I looked at each other.

Who the heck is Shaye?

I started to back out the room, and after staring at me a couple of seconds, Allen and Marissa followed suit.

"This is the vampires doing. We can't help them until we stop the vampires and free Danielle."

Little Dominic smiled, and a thin wisp of smokey white light was spewing from his mouth.

"Danielle doesn't _need_ to be freed. I think she's handling herself just fine." Dominic stood up, and we all took a step back.

Their mother lit back up in the purple aura, and the man named Shaye spoke again.

"Leave these kids alone Gabriel. They could kill you with their eyes closed."

Gabriel, the man controlling Dominic, released his hold on Dominic the boy dropped to the floor, but luckily, his head landed on a fluffy pink pillow. We all waited for a few seconds, but heard nothing. "I can't believe he actually listened to him." said Marissa.

In response to that, Markus got up from being us and pushed into the room. He grabbed Danielle's mother but the shirt Anna pulled her close to him.

"You do realize these kids can't save you from me?" He sneered. "Just wait. Wait till I see you in person. I'm going to kill you and erase you from existence, and I promise you that."

"I'm not afraid to die," said Shaye, the purple in The mother's eyes glowing brighter.

"The vampires were out to kill me from the very beginning. It was just a matter of time. And time will affect all of us. What we have done to these kids will have a huge impact on everything we know."

"If I had permission to meet you in person you'd be dead already."

"If you had permission to meet me in person, we'd both be dead."

Gabriel growled in anger and dropped Danielle's mother. "I'm out of time, but the bats are coming. Good luck with that."

The white light disappeared from Markus, and he fell on top of his wife.

The purple glow faded as Shaye moved Markus off of his wife. He must be weak, because Gabriel had no problem moving.

"Shaye," said Allen. "Explain yourself. What are you, _where_ are you, and what type of magic is this?"

Danielle's mother's body started convulsing, and she vomited. Well, she didn't actually vomit, just body just made the gesture, so I assume Shaye was vomiting somewhere nearby .

" _Answer me_." Allen demanded.

Marissa put Delmy on her bed and I put Dominic next to her.

"I... am outside. I'm injured and I'm running out of magic ." said Shaye.

Allen grabbed Markus and sort of slung him over his shoulder. He was going to lay the man in his bed, like we had done with Delmy and Dominic.

"Outside of this house?" I asked, as Marissa picked up Danielle's mom.

"Yes. Just... Meet me out there. I can't keep up this connection anymore.

As soon as he finished speaking, her body went slack and Marissa carried her to the master bedroom.


	26. Doctor

_**Allen**_

We walked outside the house and closed the door, leaving Danielle's family in there. I don't think we could help them until we find the wizards involved, so I hoped this Shaye guy would have some answers.

"Where do you think he is?" asked Marissa.

Jamie's ears wiggled a bit, and it was hard to notice because he was human. "Your senses have dulled." He told her. "The mage is on the side of the house, and he sounds sick."

We walked over to the side and saw a man on his hands and knees. He was choking and gagging constantly. It started to make me feel sick.

"Man, are you okay?" I asked. As soon as he heard my voice he rolled over and sighed in relief. "Ohhh, thank God." He laid flat on his back and looked up at the sky, breathless.

I offered my hand to him, which he stared at.

"I need a minute." He told me. So I waited.

Marissa kicked say the dirt and Jamie observed him closely.

A couple seconds later, he dragged himself to his feet, not accepting the help I offered him.

He dusted himself off, which was pointless, because he had spots of blood all over him and his clothes were torn.

"You look like you tried to fight a glad window and lost." We all looked back to see who had spoken. It was Donovan, and for some reason, Sam was on his back.

"I see you finally woke up," said Jamie. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Screw you." He gave Jamie a hard shove, and Jamie bumped into the wall of the house.

Despite this retaliation, it seemed as if he had completely calmed down after the fight. I pondered what would have happened if I had said that, and every scenario ended up bar for me, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Who's gonna tell me about this guy?" he said, disrespectfully pointing directly in Shaye's face.

Jamie moved Donovan's arm down, though it didn't seem to bother Shaye. He was busy eyeballing us creepily, and looking in all directions. " _He's paranoid_." Jamie said to me in my mind. " _The vampires must be out to kill him."_

"My name... Is Shaye." he said, looking at all of us nervously. "I... I uh, kinda don't know where to start."

"Start with telling us why you're out here, vomiting next to someone else's home." I demanded.

"Right... Well, as you know, the vampires are tracking your every move. What you don't know is that they've been using mages to do it."

His eyes darted between us, trying to see if we were all listening.

"Mages like me, what we practice, is different from most magic. Including Samantha's."

He motioned towards Samantha, and then slowly moved his hand to me.

"We've been tracking you, and that's all I can really say on that subject. But now, after I tried to help Danielle escape, they want me dead too."

"You tried to save Danielle?" I asked, this time genuinely interested.

"They had her in some type of lab, and the only reason they captured her was because she was becoming like you three." He said, looking at Marissa, Donovan, and Jamie.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Jamie, looking angry. "We made her into a monster."

"No, no you didn't. She was just starting to manifest the strength and speed of a werewolf before they caught her. They are trying to make her a weapon against you, and they planned to do the same with Allen."

Marissa walked up towards me. "See? This is why we need you. Together, we are powerful enough to stand a chance against them. There's 6 ancient blooded vampires. Four of them don't exist anymore. It's just Axel and the leader of the vampires, Avery. After that, we can reclaim the sky."

I pushed her away from me. "And what would you have done if I wasn't a werewolf, because I don't see why I am suddenly _so_ important to your crappy little trio. Would you have let me live my boring little human life, or would I have been your human shield?"

Marissa kept her distance from me and looked at Donovan and Jamie, probably talking to them in their minds.

"We were going to, and we still are going to, get Isaac. He's the only one to cure himself of lycanthropy, but he was an ancient blooded werewolf himself."

"Ehh, I'm not so sure about that." Interrupted Donovan. "Let's consider lycanthropy a disease. It's more like he's treating it, because even though he _cured_ himself, even though the moon doesn't affect him anymore, I could still smell it on him the last time we met, before we got captured."

I listened to him carefully, and analyzed the situation before I spoke again. "So... even though he's gotten rid of his lycanthropy almost completely, you think he could still be strong enough to help us?"

Donovan cracked his knuckles and smiled.

"Yeah, I absolutely believe it."

I looked at Shaye, who had kept silent. " Do you think Isaac can do it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know anything about him. I was only told to watch you guys, and it took them a long time to tell me your names. They care about secrecy. Anyone who knows more than they should ends up dead. That's why I knew I already had a target on my back even before I tried to save Danielle. Luckily for us, they don't even tell their own employees and guards crucial information, so Danielle managed to trick them. Now they think her name is Julia. I've been planning to find you guys and ask for your help to stop them this entire time."

Donovan laughed. "Was this part of your plan?" He said waving his hand at Shaye's clothes.

"No. Danielle did this to me."

Donovan's smile wavered.

"How could she-"

"It doesn't matter." said Jamie. "They've obviously accomplished what they set out to do. We need to find Isaac, and ask for his help. Then, if they haven't caught up to us, we'll round up more werewolves and attack them when the time is right."

"How do we get to Isaac's place?" asked Shaye. "He has a lab downtown. We'll find him there." Donovan responded.

"I'll have to rest alot while my magic restores. It might take even longer because in wounded, but Sam, I need to ask you something."

Samantha looked confused, and then looked at me. I nodded my head, trying to get her to answer him.

"What?" She asked him.

"It's about Samirah."

 _ **Danielle**_

"We can't contain her! She's too strong!" A man in body armor was screaming into his microphone. "We have... Man, I don't know... about thirty four fatalities so far, vampires and humans both have been slaughtered by- ucchh!"

I grabbed him by the throat and stuck my fingers in deep. I kicked him in his knees breaking them and the wall behind them cracked as well. I grabbed the walkie talkie from his hand and shoved it into his side. When screamed he coughed up blood, and it sprayed onto my face, but it didn't phase me one bit.

I was already surrounded by the blood of dozens of vampires and humans. They just wouldn't stop coming. All I wanted to do was to leave. I was tired of crying and sobbing. One guy, one idiot with terrible aim was pointing his gun towards me. I never would've noticed if he hadn't had the red dot on the wall. I let the man I just killed drop to the floor and counted the seconds. Then I turned to the new guy, who finally aimed his gun at my chest, but he was scared if me. His arm was shaking too much.

He grabbed his walkie talkie and put it up to his face but I whispered something before he could call in. I spoke very quietly, my voice so low that it probably looked like I was miming the words.

"Huh?" He asked. "What did you just say?"

I mouthed the same words again, waiting for him to get closer.

He kept his gun up and took slow steps towards her.

"Listen... We have two orders. Number 1, if she cooperates, bring her in safely and do no harm.

Number 2, if she doesn't, shoot on sight.

If you just come with me, nothing well happen, understand?"

I took one step forward, and he jumped back, startled. Raising my hands above my head, I kept counting him my pulled out his walkie talkie and spoke into it. "I think I've done it. Julia seems to have calmed down. I'm bringing her back with me now."

An older woman spoke back to him. "Are you sure? Do you need any vampires to assist you?"

A blaring feedback sound shot out of the walkie talkie, and he dropped it to cover his ears.

"Ahhh!" He wailed. "Man, that was loud!"

He picked it up and started wiping blood off of it. "Yea I'm sure. She's standing still and hasn't attacked me yet." He looked up to where I was standing, but all he saw was my footprints in the blood. They led directly to him and stopped right in front of his feet. He looked from side to side. Nothing but the body's of dead vampires. Behind him, there was nothing except his own footsteps. The light flickered a little, and he heard a couple of sparking sounds.

He looked up.

 _ **Donovan**_

We arrived at a small gray office building by sundown. The windows were brightly lit from the inside, and there was a guard at the door, dressed in all black, with boots to match. It looked like he might've been wearing a bullet proof vest under his clothes as well.

"Is this it? asked Allen.

"Duh." I replied.

Shaye walked in front of us quickly and raised his hand, willing us to stop.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure it's safe."

He hummed something to himself and something started to glow in front of him. I couldn't see because his back was turned but it must have been really interesting, because the guard looked directly at him.

"It's safe." He responded.

"Good." said Jamie. "But now, we might be even able to enter. Look at the guard, he's watching us. I bet he thinks we're going to attack the building now."

Allen tensed up, and looked at the guard intensely. "What if he's just human?"

"Then he would've freaked out when spheres of light started shooting out from my eyes. He either already knows about the supernatural world, or he's supernatural himself."

"Let's get this over with." I told them.

We walked up to the front steps and he raised one hand. "Office hours are over."

"We're here to see Doctor Isaac Christensen."

He gave me a sly smile. "There is no _doctor_ here."

That's when I realized who this was. I rolled my eyes. "Jocelyn, a PharmD is still a doctorate. Isaac is a doctor. Let us through. And shift back too. You're too young to be standing guard, vampires could've came at any time. Did Isaac say you could be out here?"

The bodyguard's skin twinkled red like tiny fires were spreading all over, then he shrunk to about for get tall. "He doesn't know." said the little girl standing in his place.

She opened the door and led us inside. We were standing in a waiting room, smaller than most with a flat screen in one corner, a big fish tank in another corner, and a pile of magazines in the middle of the room on the table. Besides a small chair by the window, there was only one couch, and it was being completely taken up by some girl her face was hidden in her arms, and she was snoring peacefully.

"I'll tell him you're here." said the little girl, and she swiped a card to open the office door.

"Can't we just come with you?" asked Allen. He moved forward trying to catch the door and she pulled out a taser and shocked him in the side of his stomach.

He yelped in pain and dropped to his knees. The little girl showed no sympathy, and the door locked shut behind her.

Allen recovered quickly, but he was still mad.

"She could have just said no." He growled.

Marissa helped him off the floor while I moved closer to the sleeping girl. I was tied of standing and was about to ask her to sit up when her stomach made a loud, disgusting growl. It was so loud it sounded like she'd eaten a bear or something. I walked back quickly and looked at the others, who were all just as shocked as I was.

"What the heck is she?" Allen asked.

"We've never met her, but it sounds like she could fight you head to head and win." said Jamie.

Somebody laughed, and I looked over to see Isaac, holding the door open. "Come in." He told us. "I'm surprised you guys managed to escape."


	27. Isaac

_**Samantha**_

As we made our way through Isaac's office, I could feel Shaye staring at me. He was waiting for me to go out and find Samirah, but I wasn't ready. "I'm defenseless!" I told him earlier. "They are doing their own thing, Allen included, so they won't have time to help me. And I don't know what Samirah's capable of."

"You can't reclaim your magic from Allen, I know that well enough." He told me. "But you can learn and rediscover a different type of magic. Do that, and then find your niece."

I was still unsure about doing it alone. "What is she planning?" I asked him, almost whispering without reason. "She's trying to regain everything you lost, including your sister."

I refused to believe that, because I hadnt even know Samirah for a week before she disappeared.

"Why would she do that for me?" I asked him curiously.

He stared at me for a long moment before cracking a smile. Somehow, he was making me feel stupid and I'd only known him for an hour.

"She's not doing it for you. Donna planned this, while she was alive, while you were trying to find the necklace. She gave Samirah instructions and she's been following them to the best of her ability."

"Why didn't they tell me?!" I screeched.

"Because Donna never changed. Even after her mother's passing, she was full of greed, spite, and self preservation."

I started biting my tongue, a nervous habit I tried to stop several times when I was younger. "So, you think Samirah is going to bring back the mansion, and her mother?"

"The curse too. She needs the curse to bring her back because Donna didn't die naturally."

I knew Donna was desperate, but I didn't think she would plan all of this, especially because she was using that child as a pawn.

"Ok," I told him. "I'll go after her. But I want to tell Allen before I go. He might hello me or come looking after he gets done with this."

Shaye gave me a serious look. "He won't be able to."

The way he said it creeped me out."How do you know? Can you see the future?"

The white part of his eye shimmered golden, and like a hologram, it floated out of his eyes. It hovered above them and tiny spheres of multicolored light came out of each eye.

"I can see alot of things, but the possibility of him coming after you is very low."

"Why? Because he doesn't care?"

Shaye shook his head. "Because he simply won't be able to."

I understood what he meant.

"It's just a possibility, but it's the most possible possibility."

I smiled. "That sounds stupid."

"I don't care," he told me, smiling back. "Let's get back with the group, they are probably ready to head to Isaac's place."

And here we were, following Isaac through his facility. Shaye was still urging me to leave, but I didn't want to go yet.

He grabbed my arm and let everybody else walk passed us. They didn't notice because there where separate rooms behind glass walls that had animals. Some were in cages, assume where being observed by animals, and there were even some trying to escape. They banged their hands against the glass or attacked their handlers before being hit with a tranquilizer dart.

Shaye acted as if he didn't notice this. "You need to leave and go after her. Stop hesitating. She's doing something else now, I'm not sure what it is, but it had something to do with Allen."

"What? She doesn't have a reason to hurt Allen." I said as a dog started barking its head off.

"What is this place?" Allen asked from way upfront.

"This is a testing facility. They test things on animals here." Isaac answered. "Your torturing them," said Marissa.

"I'm not doing anything. This is just a disguise." He snapped his fingers and they all froze.

"Animatronics. Robots. We needed to build a base just as the vampires did, and this is what we thought of. I don't know what they sell, but they have a giant corporation. Most of the werewolves have died, so I did this on my own."

Marissa still sounded angry. "Still.. you could've thought of something better than this."

"I'll tell you what, the next time you survive genocide by yourself you can choose what to make."

Shaye kept looking back, and waited for them to say something else. They didn't, so he continued.

"She's not trying to hurt him, she's..." He struggled to find the right words. "He met a creature when he saved Marissa, Don, and Jamie. It died, but she's trying to resurrect it. There's something _extremely_ bad about this creature, but I don't know much because they wouldn't give me any information at the beginning. You need to stop this."

I dug in my pocket and pulled out the charm bracelet. It twinkled and something moved in the little mirror. If I had magic, I would be able to see inside the mirror. I attached it to my wrist and looked at Shaye. "Fine. I'm gone. But can you let Allen know what I'm doing, even if the possibility is low?"

"Of course I will."

 _ **Allen**_

We continued to walk through the building until we reached an elevator. Everyone got inside and Isaac hit seven. I never would have guessed this building had seven floors from the outside, because it looks like a single story building. After he pressed the button, the door closed and a bright white light shone from the elevator ceiling. We heard three beeps, saw a flash of green, and then the elevator started to descend.

"What was that?" asked Marissa.

"It was a scanner, and it makes sure no vampires enter my real lab." said Isaac.

"What happens if there is one in here?" Donovan inquired.

"It would flash red instead of green and the whole elevator would plummet about 70 feet down and explode."

"Wow."

When it came to a stop we entered straight into a room, there was no hallway separating it. A couple of computers were in the corner and and there were lots of papers scattered about, but the room looked huge. We all got out of the elevator, but the doors didn't close, they stayed open.

I looked at it and tried to close it.

"Don't bother. It won't go back up unless someone is inside it or unless someone presses the button upstairs. It has a weight sensor."

I left it alone and turned back to the group.

"Don't you want to know how we escaped?" asked Donovan. Isaac stared at him, unblinking.

"No. I expected you to escape, sooner or later. In fact I was kinda wondering how you let it happen in the first place."

He continued to stare down Donovan, and Donovan looked away. I couldn't even tell he was scolding him.

"That doesn't matter, you know why were here now." said Jamie.

Isaac turned his attention towards him. "Are you sure we even stand a chance? So many werewolves are dead. All we have of each other, and maybe half a dozen more, if we're lucky."

Jamie started to look excited. "Yes I'm sure! Because we have him!"

He pointed to me, bringing me in to the conversation.

"Who is he?" Asked Isaac.

"His name is Allen." Said Jamie.

"He smells... new." Isaac sniffed.

"Thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment.

I was about to retort, but Marissa spoke first. He can transform into the wolf man form effortlessly. I don't even think he's become a regular wolf since he gained lycanthropy. Have you?" She asked me.

I shook my head no.

"He even helped me achieve the form as well." said Donovan. I looked back at him. He didn't say it with any hate or anger. He said it like it was just a fact.

Isaac was taking me seriously now. "That's amazing..." He murmured, studying something on my face. Probably my eyes.

"If that's the case, I'm not needed." said Isaac. He walked over to the wall by the computers, rubbed his hand against the wall, and a compartment opened up! He pulled out a bottle of pills and the compartment closed by itself.

"What do you mean you aren't needed?! You are more skilled than all of us!" Donovan yelled.

"I don't fight anymore."

"Cut the crap Isaac! You're an ancient blood!"

"No, I _WAS_ an ancient blood. I'm done with that. I've cured myself and I'm trying to have a normal life."

Jamie now had to hold Donovan back because he was about to attack Isaac.

"You haven't cured _anything._ " Donovan sneered.

"I can still smell it on you. You've done nothing but suppress it. One day, it'll come out, and I hope you end up killing someone when it happens!"

Isaac lunged at him and I jumped into action as well. I held him back as tried to attack Donovan. He growled in an unnatural way that really backed up what Donovan had said.

"Get out." He said once. "GET OUT! And take this stupid mutt with you. I hope you get torn apart by those bats. Then, with a surprising amount of strength, he picked me up and tossed me all the way back into the elevator.

I kept my anger under control and decided to let it go. I didn't want to end up wild and insane like Donovan.

Marissa came to my aid and hit him square in the jaw. His head spun but he didn't let himself fall, and that amazed me. Even though i was just as strong, or even stronger, than them, one hit from either of them could knock me off my feet.

He stared at her in shock. He was about to move towards her when something caught his attention. Shaye's eyes were sparking yellow flares and five yellow spheres flew from them. In an instant they soared straight into all of us, but at first, I felt nothing. I looked at Isaac, who's eyes were glowing the same yellow, but I felt no different.

Then, my eyelids felt heavy. I stretched out and yawned and that made it worse. Right before I dropped down, it flashed before my eyes; Danielle, angry looking and bloody. Bodies upon bodies of people on the floor. Some had died screaming, with their mouths open. They weren't just people. These were all vampires.

Somehow, Danielle was staring at all of them. She kept running and searching, looking all over... What was she looking for?

She dropped to get knees and put her face in her hands, crying. I couldn't hear her, or anything else in the room. A man materialized out of blackness, standing far behind her. He took really small steps, trying not to make a sound.

She heard him anyways.

He stepped on a puddle of blood, and she stopped crying. She went completely still, them slowly wiped the tears from her face with her hand. The man assumed she didn't notice him. He raised his right leg to take another step forward and she pounced, springing on him like a leopard. He was slammed backwards into the wall so hard that cracks appeared.

Danielle had one hand on this shoulder and the other on his head. He look scared and sweaty.

His mouth started moving fast, and he raised his arms in surrender.

Then she... then she... She bit into his neck and he screamed. First some reason, I actually heard him scream, and it was about ten times louder than it should have been. For the first time since this vision started, I tried to move. I tried to cover my ears to stop hearing him scream. But when I did it, the vision stopped completely. I got up, still feeling sluggish. Everyone else was already standing back up, looking grim.

It didn't seem like anyone was still angry with each other anymore, but no one was speaking either.

"We need to put an end to them. And soon." said Isaac.


	28. Elevator

_**Marissa**_

Whatever Shaye had done to us completely messed me up. I don't think I've ever felt that exhausted I'm my life. And the visions were equally terrible. All of those people were probably killed by Danielle. Even worse, she had become a vampire. She must have been trapped there, unable to escape.

That's probably why she was crying. But she should have tortured somebody to make her leave. Someone would have given in, surely.

"It doesn't matter if they would've given in, nobody in there knows how to get out." said Shaye. Somehow, he completely invaded my thoughts and spoke as if I said it out loud.

"How do you know?"

"Each person is only allowed to have a little information. Most of them know the same, but none of them know enough to get her out of there. They were sent down into the section she was in, but they have no way of getting back up.

To make it worse, they didn't know that either. They probably thought they'd be right back up, going to eat, or going to their families, and now..." Shaye sliced his hand across the air, symbolizing how Danielle was taking them all out one by one.

I looked at Allen. He appeared just as tired as I was, but he seemed more in shock because of Danielle. His chest was rising and falling heavily, but besides that, he stayed still.

"Allen, are you okay?" I asked him.

He looked back, stared directly in my eyes, and said nothing. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Shaye, the next time you do something like that, can you _not_ make us so sleepy? I can barely stand up." said Donovan.

"I didn't do that deliberately," said Shaye. I'm nowhere near full power, so you guys ended up feeling almost exactly how I do."

Donovan leaned against a table, then slowly dropped to his knees. "You felt like this the whole time? How on earth did you make it this far?"

Shaye gave us a strained smile. "It's actually worse. I still feel like I'm going to vomit."

Allen, who was closest to Shaye, opened his eyes in surprise and scooted away from him.

"Look, I see what you guys mean. And it seems like that girl had already taken care of a bunch of vampires. But if they get her under control, if she starts fighting _for_ them, I'm out. There were dozens of bodies in that vision, and we've already been massacred as it stands. With mages on their side, that might not take long."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Donovan slapped him on the back, hard. "We need your intelligence and strength. Jamie, explain it to him."

Jamie was so tired from the vision he was actually sleeping standing up.

" _Wake up_." Donovan intoned in our minds.

Jamie's head jerked up and he looked over at us. "What?"

"Tell him the situation." Donovan told him.

"Oh. Got it." Jamie stretched out and shook his head.

"We have discovered something. It seems like our power, our lycanthropy, is leaking out and affecting others."

Isaac's brow furrowed. He looked confused.

"What?"

I took a deep breath, and tried to explain it to him.

"Imagine this. It's full moon, but all the time, and everyone we come into contact with turns into a massive beast, like we scratched or bit them."

"And you didn't attack them?"

"No. Simply talking to them made it happen. Or it could have been a mesmer, because that's what Jamie used on the two he infected."

"Wow."

Isaac looked down at his feet, and looked around his lab space. "I know that I don't have this problem, but that could because I got rid of my lycanthropy-"

"No you didn't." Donovan interjected.

"-mostly."

He corrected himself, rubbing his temples. At this point, he probably disliked Donovan as much as Allen did.

"Maybe we should run some tests. There's no rush and this could be more serious than..."

He trailed off, and kept still. I was about to ask him what he was doing when two small hands appeared behind him and latched on to his throat.

I jumped forward and burst into action but Shaye stopped me. "Relax," he told me.

"It's the child."

I watched, and the little girl climbed all the way on top of his back and whispered into his ear.

His eyes widened. "In this building? Already?!"

He turned on one of his comments

Computers and a screen above him flickered on. It was a security surveillance system, and it showed the waiting room.

The girl with the weird growling stomach was gone. He flipped through several areas of the building, and she still didn't appear.

"Jocelyn, where did Kim go?" He asked her. She slid off of his back.

"She's spying." said Jocelyn.

"What do you mean?" asked Isaac.

"She's hiding, watching him from the shadows, just waiting to pounce!" The little girl squealed happily.

"Him?" said Jamie. "It must be-"

"Axel." finished Donovan. "That idiot has a death wish."

Isaac listened to them before continuing. "If it's just that guy, Kim should be able to handle herself just fine. I have nothing to worry about."

I couldn't help myself. I had to be nosy. It was in my blood.

"So who is this Kim?" I teased. When did you to meet? Why isn't she down here with you where you can protect her?" I smiled evilly and have him my legendary penance stare. He blushed and looked away.

"She doesn't need my protection." He said, ignoring the first two questions. "She's doesn't feel good, that's why she's upstairs sleeping."

Donovan looked back at the monitor, probably wanting to mention the weird, monstrous growling some we heard her make earlier.

Finally gaining common sense, he decided to keep it to himself.

Suddenly, the elevator door closed.

Everyone in the room went completely still, even Jocelyn. The bright white light activated, and Isaac's shoulders tensed up. After about ten seconds, it turned red.

"Excellent." murmured Isaac. He had a malevolent, sadistic smile on his face like he couldn't wait for someone to get hurt.

The elevator doors shook, then something suddenly dropped, a loud bang echoing across the room while the elevator kept plummeting down. From our point of view, I couldn't really see anything except that the doors were shaking. The sound grew fainter the farther out went down.

Finally, we heard one last loud crash from below, and Isaac clapped his hands together.

"Wait for it," he told us, smiling, one hand raised up near his ear.

The floor rumbled and started to steam. The room grew warm, and I smelled gas. Everyone was looking at Isaac except Shaye, who was staring straight down with his eyes glowing.

Whatever was happening, it activated the sprinklers on the ceiling. To my surprise, Isaac's face dropped.

"Damn. He must've died during the fall."

Isaac walked over to the elevator and touched the wall. There wasn't anything there but as soon as he touched it a keypad showed up, lit up from inside the wall. The elevator door opened, so he must have lied earlier.

Even from where I was standing, I could see the orange red glow from the flames below.

"See? Fullproof." He told us.

At that moment, we all heard a scream that made us jump. Even Isaac jumped, and immediately looked down into the elevator pit. The voice screamed in agony again, and Isaac stared typing on the keypad.

"Nope, nope nope. Just die. Die."

The elevator began to close while we started hearing a pounding from below.

My first thought was that Axel was just hitting the wall in frustration but it seemed to get louder and closer to us, as if he was trying to get up.

"Isaac, um, what are the chances he can actually climb up?" I asked, looking over at the elevator, but refusing to get closer.

"I didn't think it was possible, obviously. I should've installed spikes!" He ran over to the leftmost corner of the lab and grabbed something that looks like a metal bat. "Whatever the case, he'll be seriously wounded anyways. This should be an easy kill."

Jamie and Donovan moved closer to the elevator, but Allen didn't move. I felt something brush against my leg, and when I turned I saw Jocelyn, the little girl. She looked scared, which made me wonder why the hell Isaac let her go play guard outside anyways.

"It's okay," I said trying to comfort her. "Isaac's going to take care of this." I didn't know her relationship with him, but I'm sure he was some time of father figure to her. I tried to pick her up, and she backed away. I guess she didn't want to be treated like a baby.

Axel, apparently, had reached the top. The pounding had stopped for a few seconds. And the guys, except Allen, had all tensed up, ready for action.

There was a sudden bang, and a fist shaped dent appeared in the door. He struck again, making another dent. He did it a third time, a fourth time, and a fifth, but the pain must have been too much. His strength must have subsided, because the hits weren't making an impression.

He started screaming again, but this time, the line that separated the doors widened. He was trying to pry it open.

"As soon as we can see his face," said Donovan. "wack him with that bat. Between the eyes." He has a cruel, malicious look in his eyes, and Isaac was the same.

With a burst of strength, Axel wrenched the door open, and what I saw was... not Axel.

This was a different man, but he had been so badly burned I couldn't make out who it was.

He was skinnier than Axel, it looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His bones were clearly visible in his chest, his arm was badly broken, most likely from the fall. But that didn't stop him from climbing all the way back here. Smoke was still curling off of his body from the fires below, and he smelled so bad I could almost taste his burning flesh.

I started gagging, and Jocelyn moved even further from me, covering her mouth and nose as well. Meanwhile, Isaac was in mid swing when Allen yelled at the top of his lungs.

"WAIT! DON'T KILL HIM!"

Everyone looked at Allen, confused.

"Why not?" asked Jamie.

"That's not Axel!" He replied, running over to the elevator.

"Duh." said Donovan. "I saw that as soon as he opened the door. But he's a vampire, so he dies."

The vampire was struggling to hold himself up, his whole body was shaking from the effort. He was breathing quickly, and one of his eyes was half closed, or burned so badly it stayed that way.

"He's... He's kind of a good guy." Allen replied, only angering Donovan further.

"What do you mean kind of?" He asked angrily.

He was about to grab the vampire by his throat, but Allen grabbed his hand and stopped him. "He didn't come to hurt any of us, I'm sure he just wants to tell me something."

"How do you know this, and how long have you know him? You've only been a werewolf for a week and a half, you know _nothing_ about vampires and you don't know who you can trust." Donovan told him. He yanked his hand away.

"Don't count on us if you get kidnapped like Danielle, because I damn sure wouldn't want to save you."

Donovan backed away from the elevator, keeping his eyes locked on Allen's .

Shaye moved up towards Donovan.

"Allen's right, this man came to speak to him. His name is Elijah."

Allen gave Shaye a wary look. I don't think he like how much Shaye knew about him.

A second passed and the man Shaye called Elijah started coughing. Allen reached down and helped him up, despite the fact that he was bloody and burned. He leaned him against the table, and Elijah tried to hold himself up.

"Why did you come here?" Allen asked him.

He seemed to struggle to respond, but he finally spoke. "I came to tell you," he said in a raspy voice. "That your friend Jacob is dead."


	29. Elijah's Message

_**Shaye**_

"I found out while I was searching for other vampires," Elijah continued. "I went to the corporate building and overheard some of the executives talking about you. All of you." He looked from Allen to the other werewolves, then his eyes rested on me.

I thought I had accepted my fate with grace and dignity. I thought I could go out as a martyr and die bravely, but the moment he looked at me like that my whole body grew cold. I hoped it wasn't obvious my body had started trembling.

"Shaye," said Allen. "Can you use your magic to heal him?"

I wanted to say no. Elijah was going to die anyways, either by the flames, or by his own choice. This wouldn't do much good, plus the consequences that could follow aren't worth it.

"I can't necessarily _heal_ him, but I can reverse time on his body to before he got burned I'm the elevator. It won't mend his broken bones, but it'll stop most of his pain."

I closed my eyes and got to work immediately, becoming so engrossed in the effort I didn't hear a response. I could feel my body heating up, a sign of me using magic I didn't have the energy to possess. I was use to the fatigue, but the nausea gets me every time. When I felt like I built up enough energy, I opened my eyes and started at my skin. White sprinkling lights appeared all over my skin , something I hadn't seen since I passed out when I first used magic.

The orbs of light floated away from my eyes. They didn't seem different in any way though. Some were multicolored and changing, while others looked like far away galaxies. I created the maximum amount of orbs that I could, four from reach eye, and they encircled Elijah, eventually flying into him from different angles. His skin started to glow like mine, and for a minute, holographic beams of light shone from him. When they stopped the smell of burning flesh was gone, and his skin had been restored.

Or I should say, the skin that had been burned was restored.

Even after I healed him, we all kept staring at him in disgust and shock. His body was literally rotting away. His jaw had a nasty gash that looked like it would never heal, his fingernails were black and bloody.

His skin was pale, and I'm sure that if he wasn't so close to Isaac's man-made bomb furnace, he'd be cold as ice.

"What the... What happened to you, man?" asked Allen.

Elijah looked at him with contempt, and I wasn't sure if he was actually mad at Allen or his own situation.

"It's happening to everyone. All the vampires, our bodies are dying on us. We've started to look like zombies, and some of us are getting weaker too. Like me."

Elijah looked at his own skinny, emaciated body, then back at us.

"That's what the vampires at the big building are really focused on. They are trying to figure out what's happening to us, and how to stop it."

"Your situation is similar to ours, something is happening to us too." said Jamie.

Elijah's face changed. "I don't see _anything_ wrong with any of y'all, don't try to compare your problems to ours!" He snarled.

"Whoa, whoa wait." Allen stepped in.

"We're multiplying, they're dying. That sounds like a big ass difference to me, Jamie."

"Be that as it may, you can't deny that strange things are happening to both groups." I added.

Did you know this was happening to us?" Elijah said to me. "Did you say anything, or warn any of us it was happening?"

I gave him a small laugh. "Heck no. While I was watching them," I motioned to the others, "Someone else was watching me. If I so much as thought about what the vampires were doing they would've splattered me all over the wall."

He smiled, then immediately winced because of the pain. Donovan tapped the table, trying to get Elijah's attention.

"So, what your saying is, all of the vampires are becoming weak and vulnerable, so it should be fairly simple for someone, some people like us, to take out the leading vampires and reclaim control of the sky?"

Elijah stood on his own two feet and lunged at Donovan. Luckily, Donovan pitied him enough to not engage. He stepped aside and Elijah, who didn't really even have enough strength to stand up longer than 2 seconds, fell to the ground. He screamed again in pain as soon as he hit the ground, then yelled at the ceiling out of frustration. He didn't look at any of us, he just stared at the ceiling, and then the wall next to him.

You're a stupid, two-faced mutt. It's always the same thing with creatures like us. Vampires. Werewolves. A ignorant blood feud sustained by flea-bitten mongrels like you and a bunch of stupid blood suckers picking a fight. I've been a vampire for a few decades now, but I still don't want to pick a side. We're all supernatural creatures that shouldn't exist, and only recently did we figure out how to live among humans without causing a total panic."

Donovan didn't interrupt Elijah, he just watched him and listened quietly. I began to realize that he wasn't listening to Elijah, but to Elijah's heartbeat, which had been getting slower the more he talked.

"I'd like to see how much you cared about killing vampires with a pitchfork up your ass." Elijah continued.

"Everything that you feel, fear and hate, we do too. You guys should've seen the reactions when this began. About a month ago. It got even worse when they came up with a name for it, isolating the vampires who had contracted this mysterious disease. The people that had it, people that had begun to look like me, they started calling them revenants."

Donovan looked at me, then Allen, like he expected us to stop him.

" _Can't you see what's happening?"_ Donovan spoke to me in his mind. " _He's dying right now. Reverse time again. He's giving us information. We need to hear everything."_

I took my eyes off Elijah, who has started coughing loudly. It was a raspy, violent cough and it shook his slender frame.

" _You only want him alive to hear what he has to say... I assure you nothing he says will help you in any way. If your looking for answers, he has none. I couldn't help even if I wanted to, I just don't have the strength."_

I stared directly at Donovan, making sure he understood me. He shook his head once, and looked back at Elijah, who was staring at blood he just coughed out. He closed his fist and his eyes, then banged it on the floor.

"As I was saying, the vampires that didn't have it yet began to think it was contagious and stayed away from the vampires, or revenants, that did.

Families were barely hanging on by a thread, and alot revenants took the cowards way out."

"Suicide." said Marissa.

"Yes." Elijah agreed.

"How does a vampire kill himself?" asked Donovan, imagining Elijah stabbing himself with a pencil.

"Fire." croaked Elijah. "They used fire."

Elijah kept staring at the wall, not moving, but everyone else looked at Isaac.

I couldn't tell if he felt guilty or not, but when I tapped into his mind I heard him say to the others: " _Don't blame me because my invention was successful."_

 _"_ Most revenants don't let it get this far. In fact, I was on the verge of suicide myself, when I met Allen."

Now all eyes focused on Allen.

"He told us about the witch, he told us how he survived. The witch had taken my brother with her and gotten him killed, so I saw this as my one chance, my one opportunity to make things right before I go out. Little did I know that Allen had developed a soft spot for the chick and decided to protect her."

Now everyone was looking at random things trying to avoid eye contact, except Marissa. She's stared at him so intensely I was glad I couldn't read her mind.

"I agreed to help him get information, so I went to the big vampire base looking for answers. I didn't do it just for that, I wanted to see if they had a cure, something to stop the disease. They didn't, but I heard plenty about you all. They would've used me as a pawn to get close to Allen, but there was too much damage to my body, they decided I was useless.

I didn't started to feel that way till days later. I don't know how, or why, but the next time I not into someone... It disgusted me. Me, a vampire, getting sick from blood. Not only that, I started forcing myself to feed on people, but I couldn't regain any strength, I just kept getting weaker. I killed twenty seven people in my effort to survive, and no matter how much I drank, the result was the same. I was almost content with dying in that elevator but I remembered I had a message to deliver. If you knew... the effort it took to climb out.." he coughed again, harsher than before.

"I went blind. I haven't able to see anything since you opened the doors." He laughed, but stopped midway because it almost made him cough again. It's kind of ironic how fast I adapted to it though. My body following your voices and breathing patterns when I had already given up on everything.

Allen.."

"What?" Allen answered.

"What happened to the witch?"

"Uhh..." Allen looked around the room with a shocked expression on his face.

" _She's fine!"_ I yelled at him in my mind. " _But tell him she's dead, it'll make him happy."_

"She died, Elijah." The curse came back and destroyed her completely. Not a trace."

Elijah stopped looking at the wall and looked in the direction of Allen's voice.

"Good. She got what she deserved." He closed his eyes and exhaled for the last time.

I looked at the others. Jocelyn was crying, and Marissa had picked her up. Everyone else seemed fine.

I thought it was kind of ironic that Allen said the curse would come back... He had no idea just how plausible that remark could be.

I looked at Allen. "He didn't know much. It's clear to that if you want answers to Jacobs death, you'll have to go to the vampire's base and speak to the leader."

"He won't do it, not without us." said Marissa.

"All of us." Isaac joined in. "I know I was reluctant at first, but maybe, I can help both sides. What's the point of war if both sides are already dead?"

I don't think anyone has the energy to argue his logic. I noticed Allen glance at Elijah, and I decided to say something. "Isaac, what are you going to do about...him?" I said, trying not to say the won't thing in front of Jocelyn.

I heard a humming sound and felt a wave of heat, and suddenly the girl from upstairs appeared at my side. Why she teleported so close to me, I don't know, but she gave everyone a shock.

"What are you doing?" Isaac demanded.

"Just watching." She replied.

"Jocelyn said you were spying on that guy." said Donovan, pointing towards Elijah.

She looked confused."What? No. I let him through because he looked too weak to be a threat. And I wasn't spying, I didn't even decide to pay attention until after that guy healed him."

She looked at me.

"Speaking of that, is he-"

"Look, this is alot to deal with right now," Jamie interrupted her, for Jocelyn's sake.

"Why don't we all rest and figure everything out in the morning? There's a hotel nearby."

"Thanks but no thanks," said Allen. "I'm going to the bar. He walked to the elevator, then remembered it was broken. Isaac pointed to the left wall and a secret elevator opened up.

Allen promptly left, without saying goodbye to anyone.

Marissa caught an attitude. "Well, goodnight to you too then."


	30. Drinks

_**Allen**_

When I went inside the bar, there was a new bartender. It was a young woman, probably around my age, or slightly older. I sat down and asked her what her name was.

"Grace." She told me. She looked kind of sleepy, but she had a smile on her face.

"Are you new? Did the other guy die?" I asked her.

She laughed. "I'm the bartender's daughter. I've been covering for him while he took care of some business."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

I decided to stop talking. I wasn't in the mood for banter and I really didn't feel comfortable conversing with her. At least, while I was sober.

"What's your name?" She asked me.

I didn't trust her just yet.

"I... am an idiot. But you'll find that out after a couple of drinks."

The real bartender, her father, comes from the back and laughs.

"I didn't know you had a daughter." I told him.

He looked me straight in the eyes and replied,

"I didn't know you were an idiot."

We both smile, and his daughter leaves.

"About time." She said aloud as she left.

The bartender shook and laughed. Then he said, "So, lets get to business. If you tell me what's bothering you, I'll give you free drinks the rest of tonight."

I answered, "Deal, but I want something new. I wanna try a whole new cocktail of stuff.

The bartender made a _tsk tsk_ sound.

"You must be going through a lot."

I smiled and said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your daughter. You'll find out after a couple of drinks."

The bartender pulled out a notepad. "Back to the basics then, huh? What will it be?"

I thought about it for a moment, then said, "First, get a pitcher. Start with a quart of vodka."

The bartender frowned. "Hmm. o-kay."

"Next, use 2 cups of bleach, 5 tablespoons of silver powder, and 2 teaspoons of ground wolfsbane."

The Bartender waved the notepad in my face. He started smiling, though he tried to hide it. "Aren't you a werewolf?"

"That's the point, chief."

The bartender laughed, a big nice laugh that made me feel welcomed and safe despite all the other crap I was dealing with.

 _ **Jamie**_

It was nearing midnight, and we were all getting ready to sleep. Isaac insisted on us staying down in the lab, because it was after. If a weak, dying vampire can get passed upstairs security, anybody could sneak up on them.

Of course, Donovan felt the need to ask why Isaac's security was so basic in the first place.

Isaac responded saying that the upstairs is just part of a trap, to lure the vampires deep underground to kill them. He didn't intend on making this building a completely safe place. Isaac's worries were mostly about himself, until Jocelyn and Kim came along.

I knew Jocelyn. Her parents were killed by the vampires and she almost died too, until a werewolf saved her life. Mostly a free spirit, she used to travel alone until other packs found her.

After reading her thoughts and emotions, most werewolves automatically stepped in line to help the little girl. Isaac was no different.

They had quietly pushed Elijah back down into the fiery elevator pit when she wasn't looking. Donovan was sitting up in one corner, eyes closed.

"Are you seriously going to sleep like that?" I asked him.

He started snoring in response.

Isaac and Kim was whispering something to each other, and that got me thinking about her.

I've never seen her before, so she must've met Isaac while we were captured. She could've been seeking refuge at that time, when vampires were massacring us, but I felt like that was unlikely. She didn't seem like any werewolf I've met before, so I kept thinking she could be part of a new generation. That means she could have new gifts and abilities we could use.

I'd doubt we'd get to use them though. Linking into his mind, he was _very_ protective of this girl.

The thing is... Isaac shouldn't be able to give her lycanthropy. And if he didn't, who did?

"Can I sit with you?" Jocelyn asked me. I snapped out of my daydream and looked at her. She had been with Marissa, lying in her lap and playing with her hair, until Marissa fell asleep. I guess she was bored now.

"Yeah, sure." She sat in my lap for a minute with her head rested on my chest, saying nothing. I was any to ask her why she couldn't have stayed with Marissa when she asked, "Can you do my hair?"

"What?"

"Can you do my hair?"

"I don't know how to do hair."

"It's okay, just make something goofy."

"Alright."

I started playing in Jocelyn's hair, only combing through it at first. Then I separated it into two separate parts and tried to tie it like a shoelace.

When I was finished, I said, "There. Done."

She was quiet, and didn't answer me. I turned her around and realized she had already fallen asleep.

Donovan stopped feigning sleep and laughed at me. "You're a hairstylist now Jamie?"

I grinned. "I guess so."

I carried her gently over to Marissa, who was curled up in the fetal position. I put Jocelyn as close as I could to her, and when she felt the warmth of her skin Marissa instinctively pulled her closer.

I moved back over to my side and tried to sleep. Thoughts of Danielle and the pile of dead bodies plagued my mind. I kept seeing images of Elijah, and I eventually gave up on sleep and just stared at the wall, like he did before he died.

 _ **Elsewhere**_

Late that night, around the same time, the vampires were wide awake. Gabriel had been sent to the head vampires office, and the whole building seemed deathly silent. Everyone was worried. Some were being tested for the virus, and some were looking for someone to blame. Only a few were actually calm, and they were trying to convince others not to commit suicide.

Gabriel walked past several revenants talking to each other, looking like extras from the walking dead. They stank of perfume and cologne, trying to hide the smell of decay. Their fangs no longer retracted into their mouths, and their eyes were either pink or a bright bloody color.

The vampires that hadn't gotten the illness had started spreading lies about the ones that did. There were even rumors that some vampires were going to get together and kill the revenants because it might stop the illness from spreading.

There was no truth in this, because even some vampires that had been completely isolated had also gotten the illness.

He approached guards twice his size and they stared him down.

"I have a meeting." He told them.

"Really? We didn't hear anything about it."

"Because you are smart enough to need that information." Gabriel said bluntly.

"Get out of my way."

One of the security guards reached for his shirt, and Gabriel raised his hand.

Their eyes shone like headlights and they dropped to their knees, clutching their eyes.

While they were screaming, Gabriel's hands began to spark. He raised his fist, about to deliver a finishing blow, when the door opened.

Avery stood at the door, holding her hand up to stop him.

"Gabriel, enough. I need bodyguards, not piles of ash."

The sparks disappeared, and the bodyguards inched away from him, still grasping at their eyes.

"Fine. But next time, give me some type of security clearance so I won't have to go thru this again? Maybe you could hand these monkeys a list of names at the door of the people who have meetings. Otherwise, I'll incinerate them next time."

He followed her into the room. It was a pretty big office, with one wall being completely made out of glass to look at the city around them. Almost everything in the room had the same color pattern: white and gray. The walls were sparsely decorated and the room contained different type of chairs, including bean bags, so it looked more like a game room. Avery herself, was

After entering, Gabriel instantly felt the magical pressure in the room. The were at least seven people hiding in the room, and Gabriel guessed that three of them were mages and the other four were vampires.

What's with all the security? Are you that paranoid?" Gabriel asked Avery.

"Relax, it's not for you. It's... hard to explain." Avery told him.

"How do you know that I don't already know?" He replied, staring directly at a wall were he assumed someone was hiding.

She looked at him. "If you do know.. would you tell me what they might be planning, and when they might arrive?"

"Of course I would... If I knew."

She turned to him.

"The Midwest territory is coming for us."

He looked confused.

"Are they coming on a diplomatic mission, out are they trying to take over?"

She sighed and sat down in the chair by her desk. She was starting to lose faith in his magical abilities.

"It's an assassination. They think we've done a poor job of containing the remaining werewolves in our territory. Mostly because of the things that happened to the vampires that guarded them. They also blame us for the revenant epidemic, because we have the most revenants in the US."

Gabriel looked stunned. "That's insane, they can't blame one territory-"

She raised her hand again. "Doesn't matter. They have. Sit down."

He did as he was told, still wary of the hidden figures throughout the room. He could actually see them now, mostly transparent, but becoming visible. Either their spell was fading out or his senses were getting stronger.

He noticed a couple break from their positions and move towards him. His heart sped up, and he got nervous.

"Hey, I haven't done anything I wasn't told to do. I only know what you tell me."

She could see the fear in his eyes. He thought he was about to be killed.

"I said relax." She told him. "We don't have any intention to kill you. There aren't many mages that practice the magic you and Shaye practice."

"If that's the case," he asked her, "why does Shaye have to die?"

She gave him an annoyed look. Shaye knows too much, and has been planning to help them, and save Danielle. You know this."

Gabriel inhaled and exhaled slowly. "You're right."

She looked at him curiously, watching his actions.

"Why is it so few mages decide to study intersight?" She asked him.

"Well, number one, we could, and eventually will, go blind. Number 2, the older you get, the stronger it gets, and you end up seeing too much. You see everything, including the end... Of everything. And it's not like your seeing the future, it's not like you can change anything. You see everything, with absolute hopelessness, because you know you can't do or change anything. The outcomes are fixed. Everything exists to tell you it ends, and that's just what happens to your mind. That things that your magic did effect you, the people you use it on, and everything around you if you learn too much."

"Why would you choose such a burden?" She asked him.

"I was trying to save someone cursed by a witch using dark magic. Her heart kept beating but she was practically comatose, she wouldn't wake up. I learned this type of magic to see inside yet mind, and urge her to wake up, but she had been dead the whole time. The beating heart I heard was just a trick the witch played on me."

Suddenly, all the hidden figures broke their disguises. They swarmed Gabriel and Avery pulling them to their feet. Gabriel was prepared to destroy them all and fight for his life, when they turned from him and spread their arms, shielding them both.

"What the-" he started.

A slight ringing sound buzzed in both of his ears, followed by static, like an old television being turned on.

The door be came through for completely blown to bits, and pieces of the door flew everywhere, showering Avery, Gabriel, and her secret service in wood chips.

Emerging from the wreckage was a ghastly looking revenant, with darkened skin and milky gray eyes. His body have off a rotting stench, and it made Gabriel's stomach churn.

"DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HIDE IT FROM US?!" he screamed. "Squatting here, hiding, while everyone else rots and dies... I'LL KILL YOU!"


	31. She Knows

_**Avery**_

The revenant had on a dirty brown leather jacket and black pants, meaning he either wasn't part of our territory or he didn't prepare to show up today. All vampires wear suits and appropriate attire in this building, to lower suspicion.

I underestimated the revenants. They may look like they're dying, they may look like zombies, but they were just as powerful as the rest of us. The revenant became nothing but a blur as he attacked.

He went after the biggest guard first, sinking his teeth into his neck and tearing at his skin with his claws. The guard yelled in pain and threw the revenant off of him. He covered his neck and his body trembled. Maybe it was just the shock of being bitten... Or maybe the revenant had different venom?

One of the other guards came forward and stepped in front of him. He stretched out his arms and purple tendrils of smoke emanated from his skin.

Oddly, he attempted to fight the revenant head on, like a boxer. When it lunged at him he swung with his right fist and knocked out back.

He ran towards it, trying to make sure it had no chance to recover, but it was still too fast.

It hissed like a snake and darted towards the left wall, leaped off of it, and attacked from his side. The other guards all started humming something, casting some type of spell, when as soon as it tried to sink it's teeth in his arm, his arm disappeared. Completely.

In a small purple fog, his arm vanished. It caught the revenant completely by surprise. He rammed into the guard's side, who picked him up by his neck and held him tight. All of the guards were pretty big, and even though none of them were vampires, they all possessed incredible strength. I wasn't sure if there was a spell for that, or if they hit the gym during their free time. The revenant tried to struggle, but the more he struggled the tighter the guard held onto his neck.

"We apprehended him, Miss Barnes." The guard said,

Raising the revenant slightly higher.

I looked past them, at the door. There were a bunch of vampires snooping, trying to see the incident.

 _This won't look good for us._ I realized.

"Okay... Um..." I stopped for a second. _Damn, I didn't even bother to remember the guards' names!_

"For now, detain the revenant until we-"

"IGNITE!" shouted the guard.

His left arm reappeared the same time his right arm lit ablaze. The fire spread and consumed the revenant, who screamed and writhed in agony.

The guard was unfazed by the flame, and showed no mercy. He kept a stranglehold on the revenant, who had started begging and pleading for it's life.

There were some vampires and revenants watching, and they must have sympathized with the creature, because some sprang forward to free him.

The other guards didn't give them a chance.

One threw balls of fire, burning the vampires and revenants in the front, making them retreat.

Another drew a line of fire in front of them that grew taller the closer they got.

I wasn't sure how long this disaster would last, when finally, the revenant went limp. The flames extinguished, and the guard dropped it to the floor.

"It's dead, Miss Barnes."

Great. Just great. I let out a deep breath. "Gabriel, control the crowd."

Gabriel's eyes glowed a translucent blue, and he raised his hand. The line of fire extinguished, and all of vampires froze.

But the revenants didn't.

They looked at the vampires and then at each other.

Gabriel mumbled something, and the intercom came on. A woman's voice spoke.

"Excuse us, but due to security, we need all revenants to exit the building. You all will be notified when you can reenter. The guards will escort you to the doors. Please do not attempt anything irrational."

My guards moved forward to escort the revenants, and Gabriel controlled the vampires like puppets, moving them out of the way. Two of the guards didn't move, the guard that killed the revenant, and the one that was bitten.

 _ **Gabriel**_

Controlling the vampires was simple enough.

Containing the revenants was a whole other problem. I could sense the anger in their minds, and I didn't dare make eye contact with them.

"This is a bunch of crap!" screamed one guy.

"You saw that? They think we're monsters. They've already made us outcasts. I bet they see us as zombies. Just dying freaks! They want to get rid of us, to kill all of us. We can't let that happen! They aren't getting away with this. We'll end this ourselves!"

While some of the guards began to escort the revenants out, I bent down to help the bitten one.

"Hey, I don't know any healing magic, but I can reverse the effects on your body back to the time before you got bitten. It's not a strong spell, and it fades, but it should last long enough till they come back and do real work."

I looked into his eyes and was surprised to see a milky gray. His eyes were really watery and his pupils were gone.

I involuntarily jumped away from him, and he looked at me in shock.

"What? What's wrong?"

I regained my composure and tried to play it off.

"Nothing, nothing. I used a lot of magic on those people, and it backfires on me sometimes. You probably wouldn't understand, it's a completely different type of magic."

"Ah, I see."

After I used my magic on him, his eyes cleared up and his pupils returned.

I looked at him, maybe for too long, before finally saying, "All good."

He stared back at me strangely rose to his feet.

"Thanks."

He went to catch up with the other guards, repairing the wall, door, and floor as he left.

I looked over to Avery. She seemed deep in thought, and angry.

"I did _not_ give you the orders to kill it!" She snapped. The guard turned around, ignoring the revenant's charred body.

"This revenant could've been a rogue. A spy. If it wanted to live it wouldn't have attacked in the first place."

The way he said It got stuck in my head _._ I thought it was cruel how the vampires treated the revenants. They didn't even use pronouns for these creatures. Didn't even say their names anymore. I wanted to say something about it in the beginning, but I wasn't in the place to do so. That, and the fact Avery's personality was completely different back then. It was more like her father's. She used to be brutal, sadistic, and ruthless, but now she's-

"Gabriel, pay attention!" She snapped.

"Huh?" I answered.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking too much."

"Well, listen. Because of this guy," she pointed towards the guard, "We now have a huge situation. There is a huge rift between the revenants and us now."

"Well, obviously. But you can't blame the guard. Vampires and revenants both have been attacking each other, physically and verbally.

They even have been convening in secret, plotting against each other. In fact, I don't think this guy worked alone," I said, motioning towards the dead revenant. She glared at it's body, then at the guard who committed the deed.

"I think your guards did a great job," I said, trying to ease some of the tension.

The guard broke into a smile.

"Thank you sir."

"Your welcome, but you guys creeped me out when I first entered. I also thought at least some of you would have been vampires too, but all seven of you are mages... Where did you find them Avery?"

Avery straightened her hair. "I told the other territories I needed assistance with finding a cure."

The guard frowned. "That's not what I was told."

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "That's because I wasn't done talking. _Anyways,_ " she said with emphasis, "When that didn't work, I asked for protection. The territories knew the Midwest was coming after us and, since no one likes them, they each sent a guard to serve. Does that match up with what you were told, _sir?_ "

He chose to ignore her attitude. "Yes ma'am."

"Hold on." I raised my finger.

"We are the West, and the Midwest obviously wouldn't help us, so that leaves Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. How did you get seven?"

"I can answer that," said the guard. I'm from the Southeast, where my brother is the Head vampire."

"You're related to Trinidad?" I asked.

"Yeah. I brought one of my friends that I learned magic with, the Northeast brought three, and there's another guy that came from the North Pole or something. He's always hot, he even passes out a lot. Most of the time he has a cloud of cold weather surrounding him. He didn't use it earlier because he didn't want to blow our cover."

"I sensed you as soon as I came in. All of you guys failed."

He smiled at that until he heard Avery giggle. His face dropped back to a frown again.

"They told us... When we were about to leave, they told us Pratt was the most malevolent vampire alive. Then they said his daughter was just as evil. But from what I am seeing," he looked directly at Avery. "They must have mixed up the territories."

Avery looked indignant. "I _am_ Pratt's daughter. And I would be just like him, but... It's the disease thing."

She looked down, avoiding our gazes.

"She unbuttoned the top of her shirt and slightly pulled it back. Part of her skin, close to her neck and shoulder, looked rotten and decayed, just like the revenants."

The guard looked shocked. She caught his expression and scoffed.

"I bet you want to back away from me, don't you?"

Realizing he had offended her, he shook his head and smiled.

"That's not it. I just strangled a revenant and burned it to death. If that didn't disgust me, that little blemish won't either."

She smiled too, and then everything was quiet for a few seconds. I didn't like this new Avery. She was too nice, it felt fake. If this was how she was before she became a vampire, the blood she drank must of had demons in it.

I watched both of them for a minute, then decided to get information.

"What's your name?"

"It's London sir."

"Don't you think you should go assist the other guards with the revenants?"

"Oh crap, you're right, I'm sorry!"

London darted for the door, hurrying to the other guards.

"I'm glad you asked him that." Avery told me.

"Asked him what? About the revenants?"

"No, his name.I don't know any of their names." she admitted.

I laughed.

"How do you command them then?"

"I just say hey, or you, and point in their directions."

I gave her a curious look. "That seems insufficient."

She shrugged. "It's been working so far. But seriously, we can't waste anymore time. What happened to that revenant that didn't kill itself? The one that let the disease completely manifest?"

I thought about it, and that man's image appeared in my mind.

"Well, he's a he, not an it. And his name was Elijah."

"Was? I thought they said he strong-minded, that he'd never kill himself?"

"He is. I mean, was. But he still died."

"Use your magic, I want absolute proof."

I groaned and activated my eyes. Something felt odd when I did it, like I was really tired all of a sudden. It ended as soon as I stopped doing magic, but it was still strange.

"Are you sure that he's dead now, Gabriel?"

"Positive. Although, it wasn't because of the illness. He wandered into a werewolf's trap, and ended up burning to death."

"Crap." She clenched her fists. I knew why she was so upset. They both had a hard enough time trying to keep the revenants from killing themselves to study them, and now, they've probably banded together against us. He was our only chance. Nobody had endured that pain as long as he did. No sensible vampire would want to.

"Give me a report on all of our senior leaders."

"You sure? There aren't many anymore."

She looked at me the way her father used to look at something before he killed it.

"Ok," I answered. "Carter and his camp are still in the Midwest, studying the spread of revenants there. Isaiah became a revenant and killed himself, his junior vampire under him killed herself because she missed him, and the third one, the youngest, essentially committed suicide by walking towards the werewolves in the southwest and letting them kill her."

"I thought his daughter was in his camp?"

"She became traumatized after watching both of them commit suicide. It was probably too traumatic for her to do it herself, so she went to the werewolves and... you know."

"That's a shame." said Avery. "Those werewolves... They don't even use their human forms. They completely reject society. They're probably at a point now were they can't even understand languages. They're completely animals. Mindless, rabid, beasts."

"Yea... Let's get off of that subject. Sean has ceased duty, he started contracting the disease and wanted to be with his family before-"

"Is he going to wait out the entire illness?" She asked excitedly.

"Heck no. He said the moment he wakes up and can't recognize himself he's going too blow his head off."

Avery looked disappointed . "That's a little dramatic if you ask me. It probably won't even kill him."

"I'm sure he'll have fire grenades on standby." I answered sarcastically.

That joke didn't go over as well as I thought it would.

"Avery. How long has it been since you drunk blood?"

She looked at me and sighed.

"Don't worry about it."

"You can't be serious. Curse or no curse, poison or no poison, you're a vampire, and you have to drink blood. I'm surprised you have enough strength to stand up."

"I can't drink blood until we find out exactly what turns vampires into revenants. If the Midwest reaches us before then... well, I have several backup plans. Give me an update on Axel."

"He hasn't contracted the disease, but his junior, Jessica, has. They've been trying to convince her not to commit suicide, but it hasn't been helping much."

"How do you know?" she asked me.

I activated my eyes, just to remind her of what my abilities were.

"Send Axel and his camp after Allen. I'll need him soon. He might be able to control Danielle. I've waited so long for his power, despite the warnings of other territories. He can save us. We'll use him to stop the Midwest and then get rid of all the werewolves . Then no one could challenge our rule over the sky."

I could see the longing in her eyes. She wasn't just determined to keep the vampires in control of the sky. She feared her own life was ending, and everything was spinning out of control.

"I tried to understand you, but I just don't. How will you get Allen under control? If I can't control revenants, don't you think a beast like him would be even harder?"

Avery gave me an evil smirk.

"Just monitor them closely, pay attention to everything, and report back to me."


	32. Book

_**Samantha**_

"Remember the book! Dream! Imagine! Focus!" screeched the old man.

I was beginning to grow impatient. I was tired, hungry, and anxious, and this old wizard was wasting my time.

"Hey! Stop thinking and focus!" The grouchy old man yelled at me.

"Fine." I replied, regretting everything I had done up to this point.

I found him in a library, reading two books at one time. He was dressed like a truck driver, with one leg crossed over the other. He had both books open and propped up against his leg. It didn't look like he was reading them. In fact, he seemed asleep.

"It's impolite to stare at people. If you're going to say something say it now, or get away from me."

I didn't mind his snarky attitude because I desperately needed help, and he was the first mage I had sensed in the area. The first one that was living, at least.

"I've come to relearn magic, and become a better mage. There's things that have happened because of my family, and I have to stop it before it gets worse."

He closed the first book but kept it on his leg.

"I didn't ask you all that."

He still hadn't looked at me.

"Will you teach me?" I asked.

He closed the second book and picked it up.

For a quick second, I was actually hopeful.

Then he threw it on the floor.

"Pick that up."

I gawked at him.

"What?"

"I said pick that up. Your training begins now."

I wasn't sure if I should've been happy he accepted me or mad he just told me to fetch.

I decided to let it go and started to walk over to the book. The moment I took a step forward, the whole library rumbled. I looked around, bewildered.

"What's that?"

I turned to look at him, and his clothes had changed. He was wearing a nice black suit, with a red shirt instead of a white one underneath, black and red striped tie.

"That, is the book. You have sixty seconds to pick up the book and read the first page. While you do this, several things in this library will levitate and come after you. If you are capable of learning magic, you will finish the page right before they attack you, and you will know enough magic to prevent it from happening. If not, You will literally get stoned by non-fiction books."

"Was it like this when you first learned?" I asked.

"No. My father sat me on the countertop in the kitchen. I was attacked by knives."

"Ouch."

He smiled. "I beat the time, obviously. I'd be dead if I didn't. Death is still a possibility for you too, so don't take this lightly just because it's books."

I nodded. "I understand."

I took more steps forward and the rumbling got louder, but nothing attacked yet.

I got closer to the book, and dropped down.

The book wasn't very impressive. It was kind of small, and completely gray, with black words on the top and little red designs all over. When I picked it up, I got all warm inside, and instantly felt happy for no reason. Waves of different colors floated Sund my face like the aurora borealis, and it took me a second to realize the mage was screaming at me.

"IDIOT! Open it! Read it! Now!"

The lights shut off and glass broke everywhere. I don't work well under pressure. That's part of the reason I hid inside Allen when those fake guards showed up at the hotel. didn't have time to think fast. I barely opened up the book when I could feel the wind from all the books rushing at me. I couldn't help it. I gave up, threw my hands up to shield myself , and screamed.

 _ **Gabriel**_

I was on my way out the door when I saw the mob outside. Dozens of zombified vampires were screaming and banging on the doors. I knew good and well that if they wanted to come back in, they easily could. The only problem would be the other mages and their fire.

London tapped my shoulder.

"Are you about to head out there? We could clear them out if you want us to."

I could see the fire blazing in his eyes already.

"No thanks, I'm fine. I could teleport if I wanted to leave."

He looked at the mob of revenants, and back at me. That's exhausting no matter what magic you practice, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Well then... I have lots of questions about Avery I was hoping you could answer."

I didn't respond immediately, unsure if I could discuss anything with him. I imagined I could, since the majority of her workforce is outside this door.

"Okay, go ahead."

He looked around, then back at the mob.

"Wait a second."

He opened his hand and let out a baseball shaped ball of flame. It proceeded slowly, with a tail forming behind it like a comet.

The doors flew open, but no revenant dared to enter. Even the ones talking the most had went silent. As it approached, they all started taking steps back, like cavemen afraid of fire.

Suddenly, the ball of fire changed dramatically. It moved twice as fast and smacked a revenant dead in the chest. He was swept off his feet and even knocked over a couple of revenants behind him. It went inside him, and didn't come out. He started screaming before anyone could see any physical thing happening to him. All of the revenants stared in confusion and shock as the man screamed his head off.

Then it finally kicked in. Like a delayed firework, his body steamed and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Tendrils and flares of flame erupted from his body, causing a widespread panic among the revenants.

They all ran for their lives, leaving that man to burn at the company's doorstep.

"Now, I can speak."

I pried my eyes off the man in agony and long back at him.

"Shoot."

He still looked around before speaking, probably, paranoid.

"Is Avery... was she... replaced or something? They told us she would treat us like dirt, that she would show no emotion and be a cold blooded killer. She's, she..." He through his hands up on exasperation. "She's nothing like that!"

"It's because she wants to live. You saw that mark on her neck. She started becoming a revenant a while ago, but thanks to our research team, we found out how to halt the process."

Gabriel looked astonished. "So why haven't you helped anyone?"

"Because it's impossible. The vampire would have to stop drinking human blood. They would have to drink animal blood, and to a revenant, animal blood tastes like vomit, making it extremely hard to keep down. Avery has used several mages to take away her taste buds and most of her impulses, making her less vampire, and more human. But the process is so draining, even for the mages, that there's no way we could treat all the vampires here. Plus, mages are having problems too. Has it happened to you yet?"

He nodded grimly.

"That's why I've only been using fire. Anything else and I'd-"

The burning man still had some strength left. He was banging his head on the glass, baring his rotten, yellowed fangs.

"I knew it! You mages are demons, you and your puppet master!"

I was surprised when the man actually got to his feet, even thought they were shaking. London closed his hand into a fist and turned it over. A massive hole formed in the revenant 's chest, and his voice trailed off as he looked at it.

" _Demons_." He snarled, dropping to the ground in a heap.

"If I used anything other than fire, my organs would start to shut down. Including my heart."

"Is anyone investigating this?" I asked him. "Most of this while building has been researching the vampire disease. That's why Avery is wondering what happens when you let the disease run it's course."

"You haven't figured it out yet?" He asked.

"No. People were being cast out from their families and friends. Nobody has been able to this, not without support. They began to hate their families, friends, and themselves the most. That's when they end up committing suicide."

London was about to say something when we both heard water and a bubbly sound.

He told me to hold on, them pulled out a black vial. He poured the liquid onto his hands and it looked like a metallic rainbow. He threw it onto the floor and it created a sizzling sound with smoke rising from it.

"What's happening?" He asked the smoke.

"It's Barnes. We don't know. Just get back to the top floor."

We both ran as fast we could towards the steps. We could move way faster than the elevator, even though we weren't vampires.

When we reached there top, one mage was on the ground, probably the one that was bitten. The other five of the mages were surrounding Avery, pulsating with light. She was kneeling on the ground, holding her mouth. Blood was dripping from the right side of her neck.

"What did you do?!" I demanded.

One of the guards looked at me.

"It was him, sir." He pointed to the one on the ground. Something happened to him after he was bit by that thing."

I approached the man, ignoring London pulling me back. I crouched down and looked in his eyes. They were milky gray again, but he looked dazed.

"They knocked him out." London told me.

I went over to Avery, and the guards reacted instantly.

"No!"

"Stop!"

"GET BACK!"

I looked at them, and this time, I was too slow to react. I looked back and Avery was gone.

The mages stopped their spell at once.

"Where did she go?" One asked.

"Don't know, but I know what she's after. Everyone, get away from Gabriel now!"

They all backed away from me, raising their arms chanting different spells.

"Wait, is she back to norm-"

"DON'T MOVE."

A shape loomed over my head, and I saw fear in their eyes.

"Wait till she appears. Don't give her a chance to bite him. Strike as fast as possible."

They all spread out, keeping their eyes trained on me.

"We said don't move!" The one in front yelled.

I hadn't moved, but then I saw they were looking at my left side. My arm _was_ moving, and I couldn't feel it at all.

London spoke from behind me.

" , if you are moving your arm, please stop."

"I'm not doing it." I whispered back. I had flashbacks to the way Avery used to be when are father was alive. I used to be her only guard. I knew the way she hunted, understood the way she fought vampires and werewolves differently. I knew exactly what was going to happen.

"There she is! Now!"

They shot blasts light and one sent his own shadow to attack her.

I went blind with pain and shock. My left arm cracked at the shoulder, snapped at the elbow and my wrist twisted the wrong way. I sorted I'm agony and feel to my knees as the guards rushed me.

They pounced her and held her down with magic. But Avery was erratic, an enigma, a phantom. Her shape changed, she disappeared again and lunged after me.

London grabbed me, threw me backwards, and braced himself. Right before she sunk her teeth into him, he shouted something I couldn't understand, and suddenly, a giant wolf appeared in his arms.

Avery bit into the big beast, and the guards regrouped and surrounded her. This time the pressure from their magic was so strong it almost suffocated me for the first few seconds.

The magic stabilized and it became easier to breathe.

Avery let go of the wolf, and London dropped it.

I wanted to move, but I saw lights in my eyes, and not the ones I could conjure myself.

I tried to keep my eyes open as everything faded to black around me.

 _She didn't mean to._ I kept thinking in my head. _She didn't do it on purpose._

 _ **Samantha**_

I heard the sound of all the books falling, but nothing touched me. I opened my eyes and saw that all of the books had changed direction, and they were flying straight towards the old man. He shielded himself and let them all drop to his feet.

His eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I... I did what you told me."

"Really? Then tell me everything that the first page says."

"I, uh, it was a really quick glimpse, I didn't get a good-"

"Look at it, now."

I raised the book up, watching to see if I would get attacked again, but nothing happened.

I opened it up and looked at the page. It was filled with nonsensical symbols, and the only actual word on the page was, "Stop."

"Yes, stop. That's all you had to read, that's all you had to think about, because most spells are written in languages you can't begin to comprehend. And instead, you deflected the books. Even thought you claim to have no magic. In fact, I don't even sense any magic around you, except from that book."

I tried to sound modest. "I've always been good with magic, I guess touching an actual spell book reminded me of my skill."

He didn't seem convinced.

"Or... You somehow stole magic from it."

I could tell from his expression that he wasn't joking.

"Are you serious? I would never and I don't even know how!"

He held out his hand. "Give me the book. We'll try a different method."

I started to hand it over and suddenly, my bracelet flashed.

I was so stunned, I forgot the old man for a second. I tried to look at the small shape, but couldn't make anything out. I looked at the book, and had an idea.

"What are you doing? I said give me the book."

I turned the next page, and I was barked in golden light, filling me with joy again for no reason.

I don't even need to read the book! The spells were probably convoluted anyways, the way I learn is much easier. I wondered if I could take the book from him...

"That's enough." the man told me.

I looked around to find shadows staring at me from both sides.

"I can glean your mind, ignorant girl. Your true purpose was to come and steal my magic, wasn't it?"

"No, not at all! I wanted to learn the natural way."

There's hardly any magic around in this whole region. Most mages have either left for a more plentiful region or does from unnatural circumstances. You are either an assassin, seeking to purify this region of magic, or an actual idiot, with dumb luck and no magical skill."

I had heard enough. I stood up. "You don't know much anyways . I had a stronger magical aura than you when I was seven. My whole family learned magic without ever needing a book, so I'm sure I can take the very, very, _very_ little I learned here, and turn it into something useful."

He glared at me. "You have practiced magic outside the book?"

I rolled my eyes and flicked my wrist. I conjured a purse out of thin air, a clear sign that I was on my way back to the top. I threw his magical book on the ground to his feet, and to my disappointment, the happy feeling vanished.

"I've been practicing magic before I could read _chapter books._ I've always done my own thing. I'm leaving."

I tried to walk past him, and he blocked me.

"Excuse you?"

"You can't leave. You've broken the rules of magic."

I almost slapped the old man, but the bracelet flashed again. Samirah must been close by. "Lots of people break the rules of magic. There's always consequences, always problems. I'm trying to fix one right now."

I took another step forward and he blocked me again. "Oh, no. _I'm_ about to fix one."


	33. Man's Dead Best Friend

_**Gabriel**_

When I woke up I was still on the ground. Avery was leaning on a table, drinking from a black cup, and talking to London. I guess they told the other guards to go on a lunch break, because there were only two in here besides London: the one that was bitten and one of the others I never paid attention to.

I stood to my feet and realized my arm had been healed perfectly. I flexed it, and somehow still felt phantom pains from what happened, but otherwise, I was fine.

The bitten guard was awake, and when he saw me moving my arm he got to his feet too.

"You can thank London for that. He healed you as soon you blanked out."

I eyed him curiously . "How do you know? I thought they knocked you out."

He looked towards the door, probably wondering where there other guards were.

"It was a knockout spell, but it only paralyzed me, it didn't render me unconscious. I wish it did though. I almost had a heart attack when Avery snapped and I wasn't able to move."

He tried to laugh it off, and I gave a small chuckle too, but that was very serious.

She had reverted back into the bloodthirsty shell of a vampire that she used to be. She seemed alright now, talking to London, but I wondered if she had stopped taking the _medicine_ that kept her normal.

It was either that or something this guard had done made her that way. And there was only one way to find out.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but I never asked you your name."

"It's Tyler, but you don't have to apologize. You healed me the first time we met, so we're even."

I smiled and shook his hand. The color of his eyes was a regular brown now, completely back to normal. I knew what Avery would say about this, but I wanted to make sure.

"I'm going to go talk to them right quick, find out what my next orders are."

"Alright, I'll wait here."

I walked over to Avery and London, who stopped talking when I came close.

"What happened?"

Avery didn't say anything, so London spoke.

"The guy that was not by the revenant snapped, and attacked Avery. His eyes were different, and he grew fangs, so he either has become a vampire or a revenant. The problem is, we don't know if being bitten by a revenant can turn you into one, so we're going to send him to the lab."

I looked at Tyler, who was standing silently, kind of like they all did when they were hiding from me. "For how long?"

Avery spoke this time.

"Indefinitely. This could be a huge discovery, and since someone pissed off every revenant in our _entire_ territory..." She glared at London, who ignored it and kept his eyes trained on me.

"We'll need all the samples we can get."

"Should we contain him now, Avery?" asked London.

"Go ahead." She replied.

He whistled and the other guards emerged from the walls. What were they hiding for?

Two of them grabbed Tyler's shoulders and the others stood behind him.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, what are you doing?"

"We're taking you to the containment room, to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, I know I am-"

"Do not resist. Move forward."

He struggled with the other guards, all of them unwilling to let go. He broke free and stuck one of them right in the jaw.

The guard stumbled from the shock, and then got back to his feet. He rubbed his mouth then spat blood onto the office floor.

He was breathing hard, moving towards Tyler.

"I'll send you right back to-"

"Enough." Avery commanded.

She had moved from where we were to by the guards in an instant. She had grabbed the guard who Tyler hit, and was holding on to his shoulder, hard.

"You have one objective," she told him slowly.

"Take him to the lab. You will do that, and nothing else. Do you hear me?"

The guard's whole body was stiff and tense, I could tell Avery made him nervous.

"Yes, ma'- ahhh!"

She held on tight to his shoulder bone, so tight we all could hear the cracking sound.

She let him drop to the floor and howl in pain as the others guards grabbed Tyler.

They forced him to his feet and held him in front of Avery. His knees were shaking. She took one step forward, and he flinched.

"We need you to so we can find a cure for the revenant disease."

She got closer to him and whispered into his ear:

"Resist again, and I'll snatch your soul from your body and feed it to my demons."

Tyler, clearly scared for his life, stood up properly and didn't put up a struggle. I decided not to see inside his mind to figure out how he felt.

After the other guards to him out, I turned to Avery.

"You don't have enough time. We won't be able to find a cure before the Midwest comes, especially not with just one subject. They'll kill you and claim this territory."

If Avery had any confidence, I couldn't see it.

"I prepared for that possibility as well. That's why I had you send Axel after Allen. With him and Danielle, we'll have enough strength to bear the Midwest, and they'll kill their old friends in the process."

"Why can't the other three werewolves help us?"

London asked.

So she told him about everything. That doesn't bode well for me. If London was about take my position...

"My father hated those werewolves, and only wanted them to die. They were some of the last remaining werewolves in this region, and to make it worse, they shared the bloodline of some of the eldest werewolves, making them extremely strong, and a pain in his ass. Once the werewolves lost the sky, they massacred my most of my family in retaliation."

"I never had the chance to send Axel after Allen. There was a mob of revenants at the entrance, and then we heard something had happened to you."

I waited for an explanation, but she kept silent.

"Have you returned back to normal?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"No, the revenant's bite triggered my instincts. I still feel the same, but..."

She lifted the sleeve of her shirt, revealing how far the disease had spread. It had creeped almost all the way down her arm, and even the part it hadn't reached yet was extremely pale.

The other guards came back in, without Tyler.

Avery hurriedly pulled down her sleeve. I guess she didn't want to scare the other mages that were keeping her normal. I wouldn't be anxious to help her if I could possibly be attacked, so I was pretty sure the other mages felt the same. Plus, they already saw how much she cared about their service by what she did to Tyler.

"My options are limited, so these are your instructions. You already know you need to send Axel after Allen. Once he is captured, or brought back, Shaye must die. The only way we'll be able to control Allen is if no outside force gets in the way. You also need to fix this."

She motioned to London, and he stepped aside. The werewolf was behind him, completely hidden from view until he moved.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Heal him." said London.

Avery laughed loudly.

"You can't heal death, London. We need you to reverse time to before I bit him."

"If he's dead, why hasn't he transformed back?" I asked.

London looked confused.

"That's the thing, Gabriel. I thought you'd know. Use your powers and guess were I got him from."

I activated my eyes and sent out the little spheres of light from my eyes. They surrounded the werewolf, and he started to hover off of the ground.

As I began to reverse time, I tried to see into this person's life as well.

The image of his human form became more and more vivid in my eyes, until finally, everything and me grew dark, and I saw his last few moments of consciousness.

He was walking through the forest of Sardis Park, stepping over fallen trees and watching out for big insects. He came to a small clearing with one tree knocked down. Under that tree was a wooden slab. The man struggled and struggled to lift it, and finally managed to push it aside a little.

He slipped inside, and my vision ended. I blinked the spots out of my eyes and looked down. I couldn't say the werewolf looked any better, but at least it was breathing.

"Well? Tell us about him." London insisted.

"I didn't see much. But I know why he's a werewolf."

I kicked the werewolf with my foot.

"He opened Donovan and the others' trap."

"He _opened_ it?" Avery said curiously.

"Yes. Why?"

"I may know who this is. Or who it used to be. In the very beginning, when Shaye told me about Allen... There was someone he mentioned..."

The werewolf started coughing and shuddering. His body spazzed twice, and he was still.

"Wait," said London. "Did he just die again?"

I activated my eyes again, trying to sense his vital signs. London was right. He would've died even if Avery hadn't bit him.

"He's dead again." I told them.

Avery got frustrated.

"Well, reverse time even further then! We need to know what he knows!"

I shook my head. "I can't reverse time far enough to save him. And I don't have any healing magic."

London motioned the guards forward. "I can't do healing magic either, but I know at least one of them can."

"I can." said one guard.

"So can I." said another.

London snapped his fingers and pointed to the werewolf.

"Get on each side. Like Avery informed me earlier, we can't heal death, so you will still need to reverse time to give us a heartbeat. Can you manage that?

I popped my neck and nodded.

"Good. Let's begin."

I activated my eyes and sent my mind into overdrive, trying to speed up the process as fast as I could. I didn't get a vision this time, but it was probably sent to the one that connected to the werewolf with the most magic. He started convulsing again, and the mages halted.

My job was done, but I didn't think they could heal him that fast. I waited for them to begin again, but London had his hand raised.

"You're forgetting something." he told them.

"Oh!" One of them waved his hands and a light gray cloud surrounded the werewolf's body.

Then I saw why his body was reverting back to human form, and werewolves don't keep their clothes after the change. Not without some outside magical force.

The man looked around randomly, like everything was too bright for him to see. He got to his knees and the cloud envelopes his body, forming a gray suit similar to the ones the guards were wearing.

"Why a suit?" asked London.

"Everyone in this building wears suits," answered the guards. "It just seemed appropriate."

The man shielded his eyes, trying to focus in on us.

"How did I get here? I thought I was-"

He looked at Avery.

"I saw them. The two guys were unconscious but the girl was awake."

He stood up and the fell back down, clutching his head.

"Ow! Agh!"

"You're moving too fast," I told him. "Be still."

He sat up and kept his eyes covered.

"Ugh. The girl glared at me but couldn't speak or attack. I don't what you sent me for. The vampires."

Avery got closer to him. "What? What happened?"

The man sneezed and his nose started bleeding. He wiped most of it away. I looked at his neck, and noticed the mark from where Avery bit him earlier had returned. This guy didn't have long.

"There's something wrong with everybody. Being in close proximity to those werewolves turns you into wolf as well. The other vampires bodies are still in the bunker, dead." His eyes rolled back into his head, and he passed out. I mean, I _hope_ he only passed out.

Avery grabbed him and shook him.

"I remember now. Wake up! Damn it! Jacob wake up!"

The mages started trying to heal him again, but this time, to no avail. His body even slowly transformed back into a big wolf.

Avery gave up stopped trying to revive him. Once the mages saw her indifference, they stopped wasting magic trying to heal him.

"Take him to the containment room as well, but tell the researchers not to touch him. I want his body in perfect condition."

"You said his name is Jacob. Who is this guy?" I asked Avery.

"He's my secret weapon. Allen's best friend."


	34. Magic ang alcohol

_**Samantha**_

I shouldn't have given him the book. That thing filled me with energy and magic, and now that it was gone I realized that all that power came from it. I could still do a little magic now, but nothing big.

He turned into a flash of fire and I bolted for the door. The shadows weren't attacking me, but they were running along, trying to keep up. I decided not to worry about them. I just needed to get out.

Fumbling through the darkness, I find my way to the glass double doors at the entrance. One of the shadows flew ahead of my and stood by the metal detector, waiting. I didn't think it could touch me, so I ignored it and kept running.

That was my first mistake.

The shadow grabbed me, raised me high in the air, and threw me at least 20 feet away. After fighting my sister, this didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would. I quickly got to my feet, and looked around. The shadows were taking slow steps towards me, and their bodies looked like it was shaking and vibrating with each step.

"You're lucky I have no intention of killing you. Surrender, so we can talk as equals."

Me? Surrendering? Not a chance in hell. I looked everywhere, trying to pinpoint his voice, but I just couldn't seem to find it. I know it wasn't coming from one of the shadows, they didn't make a sound.

"Why won't you kill me, huh? Isn't practicing magic without proper teaching outlawed? Forbidden? Don't you think that deserves punishment?"

"Oh, yes, it does." said a voice behind me.

He materialized from behind me and put me in a choke hold.

"The problem is, everyone's a little short on magic now, and we need every mage we can get."

I tried to stall him while I conjured up something I could use to defend myself. I tried to summon fire, but nothing came. Lightning, wind, earthquakes, storms, nothing would work. I doubted I could make a flower grow with the amount of power I had now.

"How can everyone be short on magic? That doesn't make sense."

I felt the hilt of a knife appear in my hand, and I held on tightly.

"Magic has weakened." The old man spoke in my ear. "We don't know how, or why, but everyone is feeling drained. Some have lost magic completely. I assumed that's what happened to you?"

I shook and wrestled to get myself free. He wouldn't budge, so lashed out with the knife and stuck him in his mouth. He screamed in pain and let go. I kicked him hard in his stomach and knocked him onto the floor.

I turned and started walking towards the door. If I ran, he could do a sneak attack and paralyze me. Or those shadows would attack again. I slowly started conjuring something similar to a knife, but much longer.

"I transferred my powers to someone else. It was the only way I could survive."

The object started to take shape, and it was a long, silver gray javelin.

The old man kept holding the side of his mouth, but stood back up. "That means you still have your full potential! Your reservoir is just empty. Let me help you." He sounded desperate, and i could see a thirsty look in his eyes. It wasn't lust, I had seen that look in men. This was greed. He wanted my powers and potential for his own. He must have lost lots of magic to be this willing to teach me.

I pointed the javelin at him, giving me plenty of distance.

"No thanks. I don't think I'll need it."

His eyes turned cold. "Isn't that what you came here for?" he snarled.

He began to shine, probably about to teleport again, so I launched the javelin as far and as hard as I could.

The javelin struck him as soon as he vanished. Only half of it disappeared with him. The other half clattered on the floor. Then the old man appeared in front of me, a pained look on his face. He looked down, but besides a bloody hole on his shirt, there was nothing. The rest of the javelin was sticking out of his back, and when she stepped to the side she could see it.

"I... I'm done." He said, reaching back to pull out the javelin.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. I don't have enough magic to continue wasting in a fight. But that doesn't mean you will get away with this."

"Oh really?" I looked behind me

I didn't see the shadows anymore. The lights were still out, and the books were in piles on the floor, but I didn't sense any danger anywhere. It had gotten even darker outside, it must have been near midnight.

"The door seems pretty open to me."

He winced and pulled it out. He dropped it and looked at me. "Do you want to get your powers back tenfold? We all, the legitimate mages and I, we are going to convene in the sky. Our first time accessing it since the werewolves lost control. We are going to take it from the vampires and elevate ourselves to our former status... wizards."

"I don't have any reason to believe you."

"Then don't. But when we gather at the summit, you will feel our power. We'll be discussing several things, including the remainder of vampires and werewolves in this region. With any luck, the vampires will all have died or been killed by each other by the time we gather. We have foreseen it, so it will happen."

"Good for you. But I'll taking the book."

As soon as I that, he glared at me with malice, but it only lasted for a second.

"Go ahead. I can't stop you."

 _ **Marissa**_

I woke up too early, but at least I didn't have nightmares. Jocelyn was curled up beside me, Jamie was flat on his back, and Donovan was sleeping in an awkward, upright position. I was surprised they weren't sleeping in their wolf forms. That's they normally do in places they aren't familiar with. I looked around for Isaac and Kim. I could smell them, but they were nowhere in sight.

Glancing at one of Isaac's computers, I saw that it was only one o'clock, I had barely slept at all. But Allen still wasn't back. Jocelyn looked pretty comfortable where she was so I decided to leave her there. I took the elevator back up and ran outside. The air was so refreshing I wanted to turn into my wolf form and roll around in the grass, but I didn't. I tried to find Allen's scent and went in that direction.

I have to admit, after that vampire named Elijah came into Isaac's facility, I was kinda paranoid, even if he was somehow friends with Allen. I was constantly looking over my shoulder as I walked, watching out for every car that passed. We've been hunted for so long. I'm sick of hiding.

Finally, I came to a bar. I knew it was a supernatural bar because I could sense fairies, mages, werewolves, and a couple of vampires there. I almost didn't want to enter, but if there were vampires in here, they'd most likely be friendly. Or weak enough to be easy to kill.

When I entered, nobody paid me any attention. I saw Allen, talking to the bartender, and one lady was carrying a tray of food in one hand and a drink in the other. I walked over to Allen and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey." I said smiling. "Are you okay?"

He stared at me for a second, clearly intoxicated.

"Yeah, I guess."

The bartender said him another drink.

"That's not what you've been telling me, Al."

Allen shot him a look. Was he mad at the nickname, or did he want the bartender to keep quiet?

Allen reached for the beer but I pushed it aside.

"How many have you had?" I asked.

He looked at his hands, counted to five, and laughed. "I've had enough."

But he still reached for the beer.

I snatched it up and sat it on the waitress's to when she walked past. She stared at me for a second before walking away.

"Allen, let's go."

He stayed in the seat, but balled his hands into fists.

"No, I'm going to stay a little bit longer."

The bartender looked at me, and then him.

"Which one is this?"

"Marissa."

"Oh"

I looked at him like he was crazy.

"What do you mean _oh_?"

"Nothing, nothing." Here held his hands up defensively, and Allen acted like he was blind and death.

"I said _let's go."_ I demanded.

Allen stood up, and it looked like he was straining from the effort. He walked past me and headed towards the door without a word.

The bartender took Allen's drink and said to me, "That's one of his problems now... You're gonna make that boy snap some day."

I rolled my eyes and followed Allen out, but then I realized what he meant. I was controlling Allen the same way Donovan controlled me. I understood what it felt like when am Alpha exerted their powers on you. I shouldn't have forced him to leave, even if I wasn't trying to use my alpha powers.

"Hey," I caught up to him outside. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" He responded. He didn't stop to chat, he kept walking, probably because I hadn't commanded him to.

"I'm sorry I made you leave the bar. I... I didn't mean to control you."

He stopped moving and looked at me. "It seemed like it, but it don't matter. Not that I'm out..." He looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. "I can really _feel_ how drunk I am. Like, I don't even... I can't...ugh." he laughed.

"I'm gonna take you hom- to Isaac's place." I corrected myself. "It's late, you should rest. We all need it."

I grabbed his hand and tried to lead him to the lab, but he nudged me away.

"No, I don't wanna go back there, with them. I wanna stay out here in the fresh air, where we can talk."

"Well, that's fine with me." I squealed on the inside, trying to hide my excitement. "Where do you want to go?"

"Nowhere in particular, just as long as the sky is above us and the wind is blowing." He opened and closed his hand repeatedly and slowly made it grow fur. I guess it must have been weird transforming while drunk. I had never experienced it.

"Before we go, don't you think you should go pay for your drinks?"

He frowned, thought about it, and shook his head. "No, they were free. I think."

I smiled and bent down, like an athlete preparing to run. "Race me."

"To where?"

"The park. First one to the big tree wins."

"Deal." He cracked his knuckles, but didn't get into a runners position like me.

"Let's go."

I shifted into my wolf form and completely took off, thinking I left him in the dust. I heard gigantic, thudding footsteps next to me and saw his huge wolf man shadow looming over me, trying to keep up with me. Even though I could make him do whatever I wanted to he still creeped me out in that form. Donovan had it too, but I didn't know if he could summon it as easily as Allen could.

When we got close to the park, I could hear Allen gasping for air. He might look all tough, but he didn't have as much endurance as I did. I beat him easily to the tree. I hopped on it and howled info the night sky. When he finally reached me he dropped to his knees and fell forward, looking exhausted.

Still in my wolf form I jumped on him and gave another howl, mocking him. I could tell he was slowly changing back, he's shoulders were getting smaller and his clothes started to reappear. I changed back to, but at a much faster pace.

"I bet you wish we went to sleep now, don't you?"


	35. Sitting On A Tree

_**Axel**_

 _"Axel, wake up! We have a job for you."_

I jumped up, wild eyed, and looked around. The room was a little hot, and Jessica was tossing and turning in her sleep. I pulled the covers off of her to give her some air wiping the beads of sweat that collected on her forehead, I could see the revenant disease starting to appear under her skin.

 _"What do you want?"_ I responded with my mind. " _It's three o'clock in the morning."_

I got out of bed and walked to the mini fridge. The ice had completely melted, so I grabbed the bucket and went down the elevator to the lobby.

 _"We need you to go after Donovan and his crew again."_

 _"First of all, what is this we? If Avery wasn't biting pixie dust to save her ass you'd be as worthless as Shaye right now."_

I filled the bucket with ice and then bought a bag of chips out of the vending machine.

" _No need to get nasty about it. Especially since Jessica's on her way to becoming one of those creatures herself."_

I clenched my fists and looked around.

" _Show yourself so I can kill you."_

I was expecting him to appear out of nowhere, but he just walked through the hotel door like a normal person. Laughing, he was shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop antagonizing you. Avery wants you to go after the werewolves."

I shook my head. "I can't do it. We're not ready. Jessica's in a pretty bad state, and Teresa's having trouble keeping her spirits up. I can't fight them all with just Teresa."

"We don't need you to fight them, we need you to capture Allen and bring him to the office."

I wasn't sure if it was just me being sleepy or if I was actually confused.

"Who the heck is Allen?"

Gabriel frowned. "You don't remember? You almost killed him when he released the werewolves the first time."

"Oh! The human! That's a piece of cake. I won't even need Teresa's help for this. I'll just nab him and run. Simple."

Gabriel shook his head. "No, it's not going to be that simple. He's a werewolf now too, and he has a considerable amount of strength. I haven't been keeping an eye on him all the time because I've been helping Avery, but you might want to be careful."

I yawned and waved him off. "Stop being so dramatic. I bet it's nowhere near as bad as you say. All you do is exaggerate."

"You need to listen to me-"

I grabbed him by his shirt and threw him into the vending machine.

"Leave. Before I decide to eat something else besides these chips.

He dissolved into smoke, and when I tried to reach into the broken vending machine all of the glass shifted back into place, perfectly new. I wasn't moving fast enough and it cut my finger. I hate that guy. I really do.

 _ **Allen**_

I was lying against a huge tree stump with Marissa at my side. We were watching the clouds go by, listening to the sound of dozens of insects and enjoying the smell of nature.

"So, Allen, what are you thinking about?"

I looked over to see if she was staring at me and she was. It wasn't in a creepy way, but the smile on her face bothered me.

"Uh, I'm thinking about my lungs burning and my heart exploding."

She laughed, but my chest was still in pain, so I barely cracked a smile.

"You have that huge man like form, and I'm still faster than you. Why is that?"

I didn't see it as a fair comparison.

"Four legs are better than two, and I was never athletic in the first place. I'm more of a nerdy type of guy."

"You managed to stand up to Donovan though, and he's been a wolf for years."

"That's different. I clearly am different from you guys, I've never transformed into the basic wolf form. Plus, I had Sam's magic as a backup."

Marissa put her hand on my shoulder, and slowly started to caress my arm. It still surprised me how big my muscles had gotten.

I sat up and looked at the ground beneath my feet. Here, in this park, my life changed forever. I was thrust into this world of werewolves and vampires, and now two of my friends had been taken because of it.

"I want to see you become one."

I looked at her. "How?"

She gave me an eerie smile and pushed her hair back.

"I could _command_ you to do it. That is, if your willing to try."

I thought about it, and it seemed simple enough. I kind of wanted to see how normal werewolves felt like anyways.

"I'm all yours."

She grinned and got on her knees directly in front of me.

"Now, Allen, I want you to keep your mind open, because that's how I'll talk to you. Keep your eyes on me, and don't move. Think of it like a staring contest, but you are allowed to blink."

I took a deep breath. "Let's begin."

I stared into her eyes and waited patiently.

Her transformation was happening so slowly I almost didn't notice.

Her eyes were changing and began to shine. All of her skin began to get darker and hair was sprouting all over. I watched her clothes melt in with the fur as her canine body began to take shape. Now I was facing a fully grown werewolf that was bigger than I was, even while sitting down.

 _"Now_." she spoke to me in my head. _Change._

It reminded me of when Sam took over my body to fight, all my limbs moving independently without me telling them to. I remained completely as my eyesight changed and the entire night became clearer.

 _"Become like me."_ Marissa intoned. _"Do exactly as I did."_

The growing fur felt like an itch I couldn't scratch, and my bones started popping and breaking against each other. My arms and legs started to been in an awkward way and I felt my fingers get shorter. I couldn't keep my eyes on her anymore, the sensation was made my body twitch. I pawed furiously at the ground and rolled over, trying to shake the feeling off.

For assume reason, this actually felt better.

I was going to keep doing it until I heard Marissa laughing.

"Allen, we did it!"

"What?" I tried to say, but barked instead. Now I was confused. She said that aloud, not mentally. Was she able to talk in this form?

I stood up, on all fours, I might add, and saw that she was back in human form.

 _"Why'd you transform back so quick?"_ I asked in my head.

"Because I'm hungry." she replied. "It's bad to be hungry in the wolf form. Easy to lose control."

I stretched out like I do in the wolf man form, and slowly got my human body back.

"This is amazing." I told her.

"This is what you should have turned into. I don't know and that giant manlike form."

"I thought the original werewolves had manlike forms."

She nodded. "Yeah, they did. The overwhelming majority of their descendants don't, and since most werewolves are dead, it's even more rare. You have it, you managed to awaken it in Donovan, and Isaac was able to do it for years."

"He was? Why didn't you ask him for help sooner?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "We were trapped for years, and the morning after we were free, you turned into one. That, and Isaac hated being a werewolf so he attempted to cure himself dozens of times. But Donovan doesn't believe it's completely gone, and that's why we decided to come back to him."

Her eyes were wide and full of energy, meanwhile, that wolf transformation triggered my hangover. I was starting to get a massive headache, and it felt like we'd been out here for hours.

"Do you want to awaken the wolf man form?"

Her eyes widened.

"Uh, I don't know how that would look, but I'm guessing it won't look good, if you know what I mean."

I smiled. "I know what you mean."

She smiled too, and then she punched me. It was a hard hit, but still playful.

"Besides, can you do it without beating the crap of me?"

I thought about it. "I don't know. I've never tried."

"It won't be happening then." And with that, she laid back down, stretched, and finally, she yawned!

"So you're sleepy now?" I said, smiling evilly.

"Yea, I guess. But we're having fun aren't we?"

I was about to say yes but then I paused. I'm not sure why, but something just didn't feel right. Maybe it's because this is the last place I was with Danielle. Her being gone reminded me of Jacob, and just like that, I made myself depressed again.

"Allen... What is it?" She asked me.

"I want to find them. Danielle and Jacob. It may be too late for him, but I can save her, and give him a proper burial."

"Like we did for Barron?"

"Heck no! I'm talking about a _human_ burial. With a casket. Or maybe, I could have him cremated."

"Doesn't he have family?"

"No. His mother passed away before he finished highschool, and his stepfather abandoned him after he joined the military. I'm really the only family he has left, I guess."

Marissa stayed silent for a moment. I closed my eyes and and tried to think about what would happen next. Sam was gone, but it was pretty obvious what she was going to do. I was about to go fight with Marissa and the other werewolves against the vampires, and since they told me most of the werewolves had been wiped out, I didn't like our chances. I at least had magic as a trump card, they had nothing else to defend against the vampires. I know that they were strong, that's why they haven't been killed yet, but is it wise to attack an army of vampires with so few werewolves? Shouldn't we have contacted some other supernatural groups to help us, like mages?

I had questions, but I wasn't looking for answers. If they told me that most mages hated us too I wouldn't be optimistic about our upcoming battle at all. It's really their battle anyways, I'm only helping because I want to save Danielle. If I could get more information on Jacob, I'd be happier, but I'm not expecting to find his body intact if the vampires have killed him.

Dark images swirled around in my head just thinking about it, so I tried to take my mind off it.

"Marissa, what are you gonna do after this is over?"

"This...night? What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about after we fight the vampires. What are you guys going to do?"

"Well... Jamie and Donovan are creating a plan to attack the other vampire territories but that sounds like suicide. I want revenge for the other werewolves too, but my will to live is stronger than a vendetta. Wait, what was that?"

Marissa looked around behind us, scanning the forest. I tried to hear what she heard, but I didn't notice it.

"I didn't hear anything."

"That's because you've never hunted before." She told me, still looking out into the forest.

"If you had, all of your senses would be heightened and you would be aware of almost everything around you. I'll teach you later."

She kept looking back, waiting for something else to happen.

"Maybe it was nothing." I suggested .

A bright light shined behind the trees, followed by a loud explosion that shook the ground.

She gave me a condescending look.

"Hey, I noticed it this time."

She gave me a fake smile. "Really, you did? Good job!"

She hopped over the fallen tree and went dashing as fast as she could to the other end the forest, changing into her wolf form in a matter of seconds.

I took off running trying to catch up again. I jumped into the air, trying to shapeshift as she had done, but turned into the wolf man form, not the actual wolf form. I didn't have time to be picky or concentrate harder, I just kept going.

When I caught up to her, she was baring her teeth and growling. She was staring at something by the lake, something I couldn't see. I shapeshifted back to human form so it'd be easier to speak.

"Do you see a ghost, or something?"

 _No. There's a mage there. And they're messing with Barron's grave._ She growled life and I could feel her anger pouring out of her body.

I squinted as hard as I could, but to no avail.

"I guess all my senses suck, because I don't see anything."

 _It's not your fault. They are using magic to hide themselves. We can't let them desecrate his grave. We must attack now!_

Marissa started barking like mad and stormed after the invisible invader.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" I called after her trying to get her to stop. She can't fight something she can't see... can she?

I shifted again and lumbered after her.

 _All I wanted to do was sleep._ I thought mournfully. _I'll be a walking vegetable tomorrow._

Just when I thought Marissa was going to jump up and attack the air she froze in place. Her tail went between her legs and she started to shake with fear. As soon as I approached her side, it all burst into existence. A massive mound of dirt was next to the edge of the lake, and the gigantic hole it came from was a few feet from it. Barron's body was propped up against the dirt on the left side, and something seemed odd about the way he looked. First off, there were no signs of decay, in fact, it was the opposite. It seemed as if his body had healed, because he didn't look as thin as he did when he died. His face, arms and chest were fuller, and his ribs no longer showed. Second, his claws were longer and he seemed taller. I doubted it had something to do with his species, and their abilities because Marissa said she saw someone else here. But I hadn't seen anyone.

"Marissa, can Barron, whatever he is, be resurrected? Is that part of his magical... anatomy?"

 _Don't know._ She spoke deeply, obviously still angry. _Then again, I've never seen him lose to anything or die, so I don't much about his supernatural abilities. But that's none of my concern right now. We need to find the person that did this, kill them, and put Barron back to rest!_

She barked and started prowling around, doing her best to track them down. I doubted I'd be much help, since I couldn't even hear what happened the first time.

"I'll put him back in his grave." I called after her.

She didn't look back but in my mind I heard her say: _Good._

I walked up to him and held my breath, anticipating a bad smell. Up close, he still seemed menacing, even in death. I forgot about holding my breath as I stared at him in amazement. That's when I discovered he didn't have an disgusting odor at all. I stood there for a minute, just looking at the sheer size of his hand. He was so abnormally big that even if I shifted into my wolf man form I'd still be too small, but it would have to do. Donovan did it, in his human form, like it was nothing, so I shouldn't have much of a problem.

I began to shapeshift and noticed it was happening really slowly. Maybe I had done it too much in a small amount of time?

I tried to make it happen faster when I noticed something. It looked like, no, it couldn't be... Did Barron's hand just twitch?

Marissa yelped from far away, and when I turned I saw her frozen in midair. She was back in her human form, and appeared to be choking.

Standing under her...was Samirah.

The little girl had a complete makeover since the last time I'd seen her. She was wearing a black dress, with black jagged lines covering every inch of skin showing. She had bags under her eyes and her entire body was pale. She reminded me of her adoptive mother, Donna, before she was killed by the curse.

She was smiling at me, but wasn't getting any closer. Something bright lit up above my head, then appeared to go through my hands and my skin.

"Oh Allen..." She said to me. "You and your girlfriend are lucky you aren't my targets today."


	36. Going For A Ride

_**Shaye**_

I woke up with a crick in my neck and a puppy at my feet. It was a cute little rottweiler, running around excitedly throughout the room. Everyone else was above, and I was the last to wake up. Trying not to move my neck too much, I bent down carefully and picked it up.

"Where did you come from?" I asked nicely, smiling at the little animal. The puppy barked twice after I spoke, almost like it was responding.

"Wait a minute..." I looked at it curiously and it started to squirm.

"You're that little girl, aren't you?"

She stopped squirming immediately and started barking again. I laughed and put her down.

"Where is everybody?"

She ran over to the elevator and slowly changed from a puppy to a full grown rottweiler. She leaped up, pawing at the elevator switch. Turning back at me, she barked and I actually jumped. The cute little barks she was making earlier were nothing compared to that. She was actually intimidating now.

I walked over cautiously and put my hand on the switch, activating the elevator. She stared at it impatiently, and ran inside as soon as it came. She was a very confusing creature, that much I knew. I assumed she was a werewolf as well, but she had to be something bigger than that, because she was a full grown man when I first saw her.

As soon as we reached the top floor, she hurried at and went dashing to the front. I wondered if she could sense danger as a dog. Whatever it was, I ran after her.

Everyone was in the waiting room at the front, and the door was open. Their backs we're facing me, but I could feel someone's anger.

"Why was I left downstairs with Scrappy-Doo?"

Isaac, Kim, and Jamie looked back at me. Donovan kept facing the door, and I could see Marissa and Allen at the entrance.

So it's that type of party.

"I tried moving you," said Jamie. "But your eyelids were glowing and you kept whispering in different voices. The more I shook you the louder you got, so I just stopped touching you. As for Jocelyn... She didn't wake up when everyone else did so we let her sleep, because she's just a child, and none of this is her problem."

I imagined Jocelyn wouldn't take kindly to that, and she chose that moment to transform back.

"Hey!" She screamed.

Like I thought. She sounded pissed.

"Why did you leave?"

Jamie, Isaac and Kim all looked confused. Even Donovan looked back for a second.

"Wait," said Jamie. "Who are you talking to?"

She pointed in their direction, which was silly, because they were all standing together.

"Her!"

That narrowed it down. They looked at Marissa, because she was standing out the door.

"I... I don't remember."

Donovan glared at them for a moment and walked off.

"Lies. You obviously went to get Allen."

Jamie put his hand on Donovan's shoulder.

"Man, it's time. We all need to go."

Marissa looked at Donovan, then Jamie, then Allen.

"I guess I did."

"Then what took you so long to come back?" Jocelyn asked. A devilish grin creeped up on his face, and so did Jamie. Kim bent down grabbed Jocelyn's hands.

had

"They were gathering food for their long trip. They're going after the vampires, remember?"

She looked at them, and back at Kim.

"Where is it then?"

Isaac and Jamie started laughing, but Allen and Marissa had blank stares on their faces. Something wasn't right.

I took a deep breath and activated my eyes. My body went cool all over, and I could feel all of my complete energy. I was back at full power, finally. I sensed a trace of something on Allen and Marissa, but it didn't match Allen's power.

I looked harder and I saw magical bruises all over Marissa's neck. I may not know him on a personal level, but Allen didn't seem like a bdsm guy to me.

"Allen, look at me." I told him.

He obliged, and when I reached into his mind, I couldn't see what had happened last night. I saw him leaving after we met Elijah, I saw him in the bar talking, and then... That's it. His mind just cuts to right when they came to the door. I couldn't even see when Marissa met up with him.

"They didn't do what we thought they did." I announced.

Isaac and Jamie stopped smiling, but Jocelyn turned to me.

"So they didn't get food?" She asked.

"I, uh, no, they didn't. Something, someone, attacked them. I can still see traces of their magic, and there's a huge gap in Allen's memories."

Everyone looked serious now.

Donovan spoke next.

"Marissa, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember leaving, but that's it. The next thing I remember is walking up to this door."

We all looked at each other, and seemed to come to a silent agreement. This is most likely Gabriel's magic. He's been manipulating them since the beginning, and I was too, right alongside him. The only thing that's different is that I stopped.

"We need to go. Gabriel could've done this, and he could be targeting all of us. Allen, don't use any magic. All of us together is already a problem. We'll be easier to attack if we deplete our own energy. Isaac, do you have a car?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys.

"Yeah, but it's low on gas, we'll need to fill up if we plan to get to their headquarters."

I looked at Jocelyn. "What's your plan for her?"

Kim stepped forward. "Me and Jocelyn are leaving. I'm not saying much, because I don't entirely trust you, but we're going on a world tour."

Jocelyn screamed yes and jumped into her arms. Kim caught her and held on tight. I didn't look into her mind because I saw it as rude, especially since she didn't trust us, but one thing was obvious. She lying about something.

She stared at Isaac, and her eyes seemed to be sending him a message.

"You know were to find us when you're done."

He nodded.

Kim took out three vials and gave them to him. He slipped them in his pocket.

"The car is out back. Let's ride."

 _ **Gabriel**_

It was finally morning, but I hadn't gotten much sleep. I stayed at the office overnight, tying up loose ends and making sure Avery's plan was executed perfectly. There was a strange silence as I walked the halls of the building, it wasn't particularly empty, but I was still amazed at how many vampires had turned into revenants.

The few vampires I did see were all in groups or wandering around aimlessly, waiting for a friend to show up that probably killed themselves the night before. I didn't understand it. This plague was decimating an entire species, and we had nothing against it. There was no way we could find an absolute cure go save everyone. Especially since it was affecting supernatural creatures and not humans.

As I entered Avery's office, I find London angrily pacing the floor. The room was empty except for him, which made me wonder where Avery had gone.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked.

He stopped walking and looked at me.

"Me? What's wrong with her? She's stopped the treatment. She's letting herself turn into a revenant, and she won't listen to reason!"

"Because it's over, you idiot!" I yelled reflexively.

"Part of my abilities is being able to see into the near future. It doesn't always work, because of Shaye, but it's pretty clear what happens next. We've been planning this for a while now, and we're so close. In truth, this was plan B. Plan A was creating a cure before the other territories could come after us, but nobody had faith in that plan. We were losing too many too fast."

"That doesn't mean she should just give up and turn into a monster." London's face was furious and exhausted. He must have been up all night as well.

I started realizing something, and laughed out loud.

"Don't tell me you actually _care_ what happens to her? You are here on a job. A mission. And that mission is almost done."

I closed my eyes and opened them again, activating the multicolored spheres of light that shot out of my irises.

I mentally searched for Axel and found him and his partners, in a car. It wasn't a fancy sportscar, so I wondered why they'd be riding instead of running or flying themselves. Avery made sure all of the vampires fit into society, but she wouldn't require them to do this. I could sense their emotions and they didn't seem to be in high spirits.

"Have you been filled in on everything?" I asked him.

He mumbled yes, and looked out the window.

"So you collected the werewolves?"

"Yes, I did. It was simple. In this entire territory, you only have about a dozen, not counting the special three and Allen."

"That's because Avery's father was adamant about getting rid of them. Meanwhile, your territory is still somewhat infested with them, so much that your leader tries to _reason_ with them... But Avery's the one being hunted."

"That's because the plague started here."

"We know that, but why attack the head vampire here? It's pointless. They could have been helping us figure out what caused it, instead of angrily threatening our leader."

"They never listen to reason." said London.

I took a deep breath. "Of course they don't."

 _ **Shaye**_

"How are you guys doing back there?" Marissa asked. "Is it comfy?"

"Shut up." growled Donovan. "Should've just let me run."

Isaac was driving and Marissa had taken the passenger seat, leaving me squished in-between Donovan and Jamie, with Allen on Jamie's side. The backseat wasn't made for four people, and I almost would've asked to sit in the trunk.

"Don't worry guys, we're almost there." Isaac said trying to console us. "I just have to stop and get gas, and then we'll be there in no time."

"When you do," said Donovan. "I'm getting out. I don't care how sneaky and undercover we're trying to be. I'll show up _after_ you guys make it inside. No one will be tracking me then."

Suddenly, I felt an electric shock course through my body, and spots filled my eyes until they completely blocked my vision.

"What the hell?" said Donovan.

"Are you okay? asked Jamie.

"What's happening back there?" Isaac slowed down a little, and was looking through the mirror.

I opened my mind completely, shutting them out for a second, and I saw Axel and two girls, riding along in a car.

"Stop the car." I told them. "Pull over."

Isaac did as I told him, but everyone looked confused.

"What's happening?" asked Marissa.

"It's Axel. He's coming this way."

"What?!" said Donovan. "How did he find us?"

I closed them off again, and I focused harder. Axel and the girls all seemed pretty bored and tired. Were they told to drive a car, to be less suspicious? I knew Avery's father wanted their vampires to look as normal as possible out in the open, but I'd doubt they'd go this far.

I reached into their minds and tried to read their emotions. It was difficult to do while they were moving but I could tell he was worried about Jessica. She was in the passenger seat, and I sensed something dark. She must be becoming what Elijah became. That must be why they all were so depressed.

I paid attention to where they were and the signs.

"I don't think they know were we are. They are just driving this direction."

"But for what reason?" asked Marissa.

There's nothing over here that would draw them to us."

"Except Allen." said Jamie. If they could change Danielle, they might be looking to do the same to him, and pit them against us."

"But why to all that trouble? Why not just kill him?" Isaac asked.

"Allen has abnormal werewolf powers," said Marissa.

"His first transformation was the wolf man form, which only a few people can do, as you know, Isaac."

"Well, which direction are they coming from?" Donovan asked me.

"I don't know, I can't really tell."

Donovan said something under his breath and looked out the window.

I paid no mind to that and tried to sense how close they were.

They are almost here... there they are, right there!

A black Mercedes drove past us, heading in the opposite direction we were going.

"I guess that means they don't know where we are." said Isaac.

"But they're going that direction for a reason. said Jamie. "Allen's house is that way.

"Should we follow them?" asked Marissa.

"I think we should." I told them. "They wouldn't be in a car without a reason."


	37. Flames

_**Allen**_

"They're stopping for gas." I said, peering out the window. We should keep going so they don't notice us.

"Um, no." Isaac interjected. "We need gas too. We could either wait till they drive off and get gas, or get out right now and kill them if they try something. Either way, I'm not driving past the gas station."

"Fine." I muttered. All of the other spots were filled, so he pulled up to the store and turned the engine off.

"Okay, everyone watch closely, they could attack is at any moment." said Jamie.

"I doubt it," Shaye chimed. "They don't seem to be in the mood for that."

Axel hopped out of the front seat and stuck his head back in. He was talking to one of them, but I couldn't tell, their windows were tinted. He looked irritated and tired.

"Shaye, what's happening?" asked Marissa.

"He's asking them if they want something to eat while he's in there. Wait no, now he's pleading Jessica to eat something, anything."

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Marissa asked, staring at him intensely. I don't see how she did it. His eyes were creepy colorful, and mesmerizing.

"She's becoming what Elijah became."

"Oh." Marissa became silent and looked away from Shaye, staring out the window squinting as if that would help her see through the tinted glass.

Suddenly, it was hard to make out, but it looked like the girl in the front seat flinched. The guy pumping gas behind them walked over and spoke to Axel.

"Now what?" asked Donovan.

"He just yelled out her and that guy came over to make sure things were okay."

Axel nodded and reassured the man, then turned back to the car.

"He's apologizing." Share told us.

Axel softly closed the door and walked towards the store.

"Duck down!" Isaac half screamed, half whispered. Everyone except Shaye did it, who's glowing eyes were getting brighter.

Fortunately, Axel didn't notice and walked inside. Meanwhile, the girl in the backseat got out and slammed the door.

"That's Jessica?" I asked, not remembering who was which.

"Yeah, that's her."

Her condition was nowhere near as bad as Elijah's, but it was still noticeable. There was no way she could hide the darkened peeling skin stretching all the way down her neck. The skin on the left side of her face had mottled become a brownish color. It looked as if she'd been scratching herself severely, because lots of the rotten skin on her arms had been ripped up and blood was seeping from the wounds.

She walked over to the gas pump and laid against the car, apparently waiting for Axel to pay.

"It seems like we're safe, for now." I told them. She's not even aware we're here.

"With her problems I doubt she cares." Donovan replied bluntly.

"Well I'm not scared is Axel, so I'm going to get gas. I'll just fill up the red container and we can go. Simple." Isaac opened his door to get out, and Shaye reached forward and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait!" He hissed. "Not yet. Look."

We all turned our attention back to Jessica, who was looking at her reflection in the glass, her face unreadable. The girl in the front seat poked her head out the window and said something, but if Jessica heard her, she didn't show it. She was glaring at all the wounds on her body, and looked close to having a breakdown.

The other girl stepped out of the car to talk to her, not we couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Shaye, what are they talking about?" I asked.

"She's telling Jessica that everything will be okay. That Avery will find a cure."

"A cure for what?" Donovan interrupted.

Jessica pushed the other girl away from her and shouted so loud we could hear her from the car.

"Avery doesn't give a damn about revenants!"

Everyone at the gas station turned and looked at them. When Jessica noticed she said something in a much lower voice, and the other girl got back in the front seat.

Jessica then turned to the car parked behind them and asked him for something. He promptly pulled out a cigarette and lit it for her.

"Do any of you know what a revenant is?" Isaac asked us, slowly slipping out the door.

"It's probably that thing that Elijah was becoming- Wait!"

Isaac snuck out the car and slammed the door. He went to the trunk, pulled out a red container, and went inside the store just as soon as Axel came out, but Axel paid him no attention.

"Why didn't Axel recognize him? What magic did you use?" asked Marissa.

"I, I didn't do anything. Axel must be too wrapped up in Jessica's situation."

"Or maybe he forgot Isaac, since Isaac appeared to be dead the last time he saw him." said Donovan.

While they were trying to figure out why he hadn't recognized Isaac, Axel stopped halfway to his car. Everyone went silent. Jessica noticed he had came out and started to pump the gas. Then Axel turned and looked at the store.

"Crap, he does remember!" said Jamie in a hushed whisper. He started walking back to the store, and Jessica frowned.

"She's wondering what he's doing?" Shaye told us. "And he's thinking-ahh!"

Shaye clutched his head and starting breathing fast, like he was having an asthma attack. He held his head down and his leg was shaking furiously.

"What's wrong Shaye? What's wrong? Say something!"

He tried to stop shaking, but it wouldn't work. He looked up at us, and everyone jumped back. His eyes and nose had started bleeding, but his eyes were still glowing.

"Gabriel. He did this." Shaye hissed. His eyes faded and he slumped forward, collapsing on the spot.

"Dammit we need to go! Why the hell did Isaac think this was a good idea?" Donovan was about to get out and confront Axel when all hell broke loose.

Isaac came dashing out the store with blinding speed, dropping the red container at the door. He ran straight to their car. Axel, whose reflexes were just as quick, spun after him.

Before I had time to even guess why he did it, I saw.

I saw the multicolored light in Jessica's eyes.

I saw the gas nozzle drop to the ground, spraying gas everywhere.

And I saw her drop the lit cigarette into the gas.

 _ **Samantha**_

I was worried about coming back, but it turned out to be fine. The neighborhood was still gone, which was a good thing. I thought Samirah might have come back to this location, but I was wrong. Where was she? I'd practiced a little magic on the way here, and I felt a presence, but not Samirah's. The hard part wasn't finding out who. It was making sure they don't kill me while I'm trying to discover them.

I took out the charm bracelet and and blew on it. It glowed faintly, and then the glow disappeared. That means that someone was _really_ close to me, a few feet away for all I know. I tried to calm my mind and create a protection spell. I closed my eyes, breathed in deeply, and imagined myself being encased in a warm bright light.

For some reason, nothing happened. It irritated me, but I know I'll get back to original level of power soon. I pulled out the book, flipped through some pages, and read. I found one that seemed accurate enough, and spoke it aloud.

" _Garde!"_ I chanted.

"Oh that's not going to work." said a voice.

I whirled around, trying to find out who spoke. Nobody was behind me.

"Where are you?" I demanded. "Come out!"

The disembodied voice laughed. Samirah's laugh.

"You know _exactly wher_ e I am, you just don't want to admit it." She said gleefully.

"Turn around, and come on in."

I looked back, and they cars, the trees, the houses were back. The entire neighborhood had been brought back.

 _ **Gabriel**_

"Everything is working, though not the way we planned it." I told some of the guards standing post.

Everyone in the building was on alert. They all knew the other vampires were coming. They just didn't know what time.

"What do you mean not the way we planned it? What changed?" London came at me, asking me questions.

"Why are you here?" I responded.

"Gabe, answer the damn question." Avery said as she came in the lobby.

She was wearing a very loose silky black dress. It went down slightly past her knees with a split that went all the way up to her thigh. Earlier, she had asked me to put a glamour on her to hide the revenant curse.

"Wow, uh... Why are you... I..."

London couldn't pick his jaw up of the floor, so I snapped my fingers. Her glamour disappeared and we could see the full effects of the revenant curse. Now it completely her right arms, while dropping a little bit past the elbow in the left. Her chest and throat were covered as well, and her face was mottled and blotched, it hadn't started peeling off like the rest, and it hadn't reached the rotten color yet.

The look of disgust on his face was instantaneous. Had she been standing closer to him, he probably would've reflexively backed away. She saw his reaction and glared at me. Before she could form a sentence, London snapped his fingers and returned the glamour.

"Do that again and I swear I'll-"

"You'll what, Avery? Our situation can't get much more worse than what it is."

London looked back and forth between me and her. He didn't like her plan anymore than I did, but for a different reason.

She stopped talking and stared at me intensely for what seemed like forever.

Then she closed her and eyes and slowly said, "What did you mean when you said things aren't working the way we planned it?"

I decided not to antagonize her more. "Axel's group. Jessica couldn't handle becoming a revenant, so she committed suicide."

I waited for Avery's reaction, but she didn't blink.

"How does that, in any way, change our plans? All we need is for Axel to get Allen."

"That's the thing. The way she committed suicide. She threw a lit cigarette into a huge puddle of gasoline at a gas station. It destroyed everything.

"So Axel and his group are dead?" She asked.

Axel's not, but the two girls are. They were the closest to the blast.

"Damn it." she said under her breath.

"London, you're going to have to go get him for me."

London looked surprised. But I don't know who or where-"

"Relax," I told them. "They are already coming this way.

 **Samantha**

 _Small talk might be my only chance at living._

"So, Samirah, tell me. What's the point of all this? What will this accomplish?"

"Open the door, and go inside." She commanded.

"What's in there?" I demanded. "None of this should exist!"

"NOBODY ASKED YOU THAT!" Samirah screamed.

Suddenly I couldn't breathe. The door opened, and I was lifted off my feet, floating in the air. Then, with an extreme force, I was thrown towards the house against my will, flying so fast I would've screamed if could've spoken.

I went soaring all the way into the living room, crashing into the same glass table I crashed into before. A sharp ringing in my right ear and a piercing pain in my side, I wasn't sure where to move, or where Samirah was. The house had been completely rebuilt, but there was no lights on, I was shrouded in darkness.

Blinking the spots out of my eyes, I looked around in horror at a things that shouldn't exist, a room that shouldn't exist, a chandelier, a table, a staircase, a couch. And I heard Samirah's laughter, mocking me and my pain.

I tried to pull myself to my feet, being very careful of the broken glass.

"Just tell me why." I pleaded into the darkness. "Why would you do this? Why would Donna want you to do this? What do you have to gain?"

I felt a breeze, a cool breeze that didn't feel natural inside a house. A looked over and saw Samirah standing over me. I froze.

"Unlike you, my mother never reformed. This house is her life. This _magic_ is her life. It don't matter if greed was the cause of the curse, this is all she's known. And you, you were _so quick_ to give up magic when you could've been figuring out a way to destroy curse and keep everything the same. You took the cowards way out. You don't deserve to be my aunt."

As much as that stung, it made me realize that Donna must have been grooming the girl for this for a while. She probably had this planned out before I left the first time. If not, immediately after.

"But why," I continued, trying to send a message to someone, anyone, out there. Allen, Marissa, other mages, anything, but I knew I wouldn't get a fast enough response.

"Why does your plan involve Allen? I wasn't there, but I had a vision. You too that beast that Allen found, didn't you? Why are you resurrecting it? What is it for?"

She laughed and crouched down to me.

"Why am I not surprised. Something else you _don't know._ "

Samirah opened her right hand and dropped a bunch of tiny diamonds in front of me. She bent down even closer and whispered into my ear.

"The curse is created by greed. That creature, the one Allen found, is one of the greediest, strongest, most powerful creatures alive. I alone can't create enough greed to bring the curse back, but that thing sure can help. Want to meet him?"

She smiled and snapped her fingers. The house started shaking and she vanished in the spot. This time, ignoring the glass and the pain, I got to my feet and ran for the door. I slammed up against it, but it wouldn't budge. The house kept shaking violently, and I found feel the presence of something huge. She's used her magic to bring that beast inside the house, and trapped me with it.

I barraged the door with several different spells, and nothing made a difference.

"Samirah!" I screamed. "Samirah stop this!"

A loud crash shook the floor, and the house stopped moving.

" _Barron says hello._ " Samirah voice echoed in my head

"Samirah?" I called out. "Where are you?" My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but still didn't notice the lumbering creature till lit took a step forward.

"Oh, God, no."

It took another step.

"Samirah please."

Silence.

I tried to conjure a huge ball of flame, but I had lost too much blood already. The ball grew smaller and smaller as it reached the creature, only illuminating the beast's red eyes as it fizzled into nothing.

"Kill her." Samirah whispered from above.

The giant beast bounded toward me like a lion chasing it's prey, and all I could do was close my eyes and scream.


	38. New Arrivals

_**Allen**_

Everyone got out the car and ran towards the fire. Marissa and Jamie ran to Isaac, Shaye ran to Jessica, Donovan ran to Axel and I... don't know why I ran. I guess I wanted to see the spectacle.

Their car was upside down, slightly blown to pieces, and still on fire. The other girl was still inside, most likely dead. There was no question as to whether or not Jessica was alive though. The ground was streaked with blood as well as gasoline and flames. The smoke clouded my eyesight, but I could still tell Shaye wasn't standing over a body.

Donovan was just staring at Axel's dead body, expressionless, until Jamie called both of us over.

"Hey, both of you, come help me!" Jamie was pulling Isaac's body away from the wreckage while Marissa was rummaging through Isaac's pockets. What was she looking for?

I walked over before Donovan and grabbed Isaac's legs. Donovan stopped abruptly.

"What did you need both of us for?" He asked.

"Uh, I need you to mesmerize the bystanders. They can't see our remember this." Jamie told him.

"I'll handle that," Shaye called from where Jessica last stood. Without turning around, he flicked his hand in our direction and purple wave of light flew through us. I grasped at my chest, trying to feel the difference when Donovan tapped my shoulder.

"Behind you, idiot."

I turned and saw that all of the normal people were frozen. A purple light covered their eyes and they stood perfectly still. The only exception was the car the man that lit Jessica's cigarette. His car had been wrecked in disaster, and he too, had been killed. I didn't even notice until I saw the same purple wave of light encasing the man. His burns and scars were disappearing, and his car was returning back to his previous state. When the magic was finished, the man walked in a slow, sleep like state to the car, got inside, and put this head down at the wheel.

"Wow." I murmured. "If you can save him, why not save everyone?"

Shaye gave me an exasperated look. "These are your _enemies._ They were hunting you. Why would you want them alive?"

I gotta admit, I felt dumb when I realized it.

"I kinda forgot what happened, because Isaac got hurt too and-" I turned around, and saw Isaac standing upright, looking completely fine besides his ruined clothes.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"It was one of these," He slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out one of the vials Kim had given him before we left.

"It completely healed me."

"That's amazing man. Were you saving those in case one of us got hurt?"

He looked at me and shook his head.

"No. There's something special in these, specifically made for me. Each dose is different and experimental. I wouldn't share these with any of you. I don't know the consequences."

I wondered what it could've been, but Donovan must have known, because he had a little smirk on his face.

"We need to stop standing around, this is the last straw." Shaye stomped over towards us, eyes glowing, blood on his hands, looking furious.

"What's wrong now?" Donovan snapped.

" _Gabriel."_ Shaye snarled back. "This wasn't an accident. He possessed her and made her take her own life. He's the reason they're all dead."

"Why would he do that?" Marissa asked. "I thought they were on the same side."

"They are." Shaye said looking at his bloodstained fist in anger. "I guess he just doesn't give a damn."

"Don't pretend you care." I went after him. "You clearly have the power to save them."

"It's not the fact that they're dead, it's that he killed them for nothing. Jessica may have been having those thoughts but she wouldn't have taken action, Gabriel pushed her over the edge. And on top of them being our enemies, I'm trying to conserve my power as well. I can't waste it here when I know something much bigger is going to happen."

"You're just making excuses," I told him. "This is as much of your fault as it is his. You were both given the same task, the same job. The only difference is that they realized how worthless you were early on."

Shaye walked up to me and started me dead in the eye.

"Do you have a _problem_ with me Allen? Because you would've died about ten times if it wasn't for me. And as strong as you think you are, I don't care how magical and fabled your little wolf powers are. I will put you to sleep like a stray mutt riddled with fleas and rabies. Don't go thinking you're some type of alpha dog now. That'll get you killed."

"Oh really, because from my point of view, I don't see you as much of a threat. In fact I know a a little girl that could probably-"

 _Allen, please save me._

Huh?

I looked around me, but I didn't see anyone who could have said that. Where did it come from?

"You don't think I'm a threat?" Shaye continued. "My magic is so powerful and dangerous it's not even practiced anymore-"

"I'm fairly certain I could gouge it your eyes before you got to chance to wink at me. I don't care about your little pixie dust crap."

Before Shay's next rebuttal, Jamie randomly started clapping. It stunned me and Shaye both into silence.

"Way to go you two. We could be on our way to save Danielle and killing the vampires, but instead, we are here squabbling over power. Nice."

Then he dropped the sarcasm and for serious.

"Everyone. Get in the car. Now. Who cares if these three are dead? We'll never get another chance like this. There is a slim... A very slim chance that Gabriel has gone rogue like you did Shaye. Do you agree or disagree?"

Shaye said nothing, only nodding his head.

"Okay then, if this is the case, let's take this opportunity to get the jump on them. That was the plan in the first place, right?"

 _ **Samantha**_

It had been over five minutes since I heard the beast roar. It got closer and closer, and then, nothing. I kept my eyes closed shut so tight I was starting to get a headache. What sick game was this? I should be dead. No, more than dead. I should be a half eaten carcass by now. What happened? Did Samirah have a change of heart?

"I've had enough of this." said a male voice.

The door I was leaning on for support suddenly disappeared, and I fell onto... onto...

 _Sand_?

I finally opened my eyes and saw that I was laying down on a beach surrounded by a dozen people. There son was setting, there were no actual beachgoers in sight. What's worse is that they were giving me strange looks, like I was some type of circus freak on display.

I pulled the small spellbook out of my purse and clutched it tightly.

"Is this some type of cult?" I asked, eyeing them warily.

"No." said someone behind me. All of them were wearing normal clothes, so it didn't like like any cult of gang I had ever seen, but I was still unsure. Five of them people were women, and they didn't look like they were being held hostage.

"We are some of the last mages in existence." said the same man from earlier. He looked like he was in his fifties, with a grey beard and a blue plaid shirt on and dark black jeans. I didn't think he was the leader because there were still two that looked older than him.

"My name is Edriss. Welcome to the summit."

 _ **Gabriel**_

 _She didn't know a thing. She won't suspect it._

I watched as Avery slowly walked towards her own death. It may have been pointless to fight, but I believe fleeing was still an option. We have had plenty of time to prepare an escape, but she refused to hear it. She can die alone if she wants to. I'm going to figure a way out of this.

"Gabriel?" She's called from across the office.

"Yes?" I responded, moving in her direction. She was staring intently at a mirror. I snapped my fingers and removed the effects of the curse . She continued to speak, but didn't turn around to face me.

"How many of us has Danielle killed since she woke up?"

I scratched my head, trying to remember.

"I wasn't keeping track. About seventy, right? We send them in groups of ten, and we've done that at least seven times."

"So she has killed every man that stepped into the lab?"

"Technically... Not yet. There could be a couple of cowards running. And some could even be fast enough to evade her, though I doubt we have anyone strong enough to subdue her."

"Oh well." Avery said with a smile.

"How long until Allen and the wolves get here?"

"Thirty minutes, at the most. The vampires should be here an hour after that."

"Then everything is working fabulously!" She clapped her hands together.

"Allen will snap and rampage because of Danielle, and Danielle will rampage because she's already snapped. With a little bit of your influence, he'll tear his own friends apart, and Danielle will slay everything she sees. We'll finally be rid of every werewolf within the region. That's all I want to add to my father's legacy."

Avery had a picture of her father on her desk. The same desk he had sat in when he sent all the vampires out to kill every werewolf they could find. And he almost succeeded.

"Where will we be, when this all goes down?" I asked her.

"Right in the middle, I'm going to face the vampires from the other territories myself. When everything ends, this whole building will burn down."

"No." I replied.

"No?" She responded. She finally turned in my direction. "What do you mean no?"

I swallowed. "I... I'm not dying with you. I'm not dying anytime soon. This right here-" I motioned to the entire building. "This is just a stepping stone. After everything plays out here, the mages will lose their fear of vampires. They will unite, powers stronger than ever, and will finally earn the names they used to have, wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers. They will reclaim the sky, and I need to be there when it happens."

"The sky doesn't mean anything to me." she stared at me blankly, with no emotion.

"But, if you can find a way to survive, I won't care. I only ask that you defeat Shaye first. His power contradicts yours, and if you flee before the job is finished, he could sway Danielle and Allen and ruin everything we planned."

London spotted us talking and broke from his routine to come over.

"That man likes, you, you know that right?"

She's looked over at London and nodded solemnly.

"I don't want to think about that. It's too late for love. It's too late for anything."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather-"

" _Don't make me say it again."_ She grunted through gritted teeth as London reached us.

"Is everything ok?" He asked us.

"Yes." She replied quickly. "And since it's time is running out I need a couple things carried out."

"Of course. What would you like me to do?"

London looked nervous and anxious, he must have been itching to do something besides guarding all day.

"I need a human," she murmured. "I need flesh and blood."

"I thought it tasted like crap and weakened revenants?" London chimed.

"That's another thing," she said, looking at both of us. I haven't fully become a revenant yet, but there's no need to hide anymore. There's no cure. I haven't reached the stage where blood weakens me, so I need to enjoy it now, and get myself to full power. We have an hour before they arrive, so take your-"

"AHHHHHH! UGH! GOD! HELP ME!'' I screamed. I clutched my eyes, trying to shut out the fire. My ears were boiling, and I think I felt something drip from them, most likely blood.

I knew opening my eyes would show me the vision and end the pain faster but I was scared of what could effect me this much.

"What's going on?" said London, sounding nervous.

"What's attacking you?"

"It's my own magic," I replied. "It's trying to give me a vision."

"And it _hurts you?_ " He replied, horrified.

"Sometimes." I told him, struggling to endure. "The way I react to visions depends on how I would feel about the situation, and sometimes, my reaction can tell the future."

"Well open your eyes and end it! What could be this traumatizing?"

Finally giving in, everything happened in a flash of light, my body went cold and hot at the same time.

"Gabriel, what was it?" Avery asked me. She almost tried to help me up until all of the other guard mages came running into the room out of breath. All carrying the same message as me. Even if I hadn't caved in to the pain, the few minutes would have made no difference.

"The other vampires are already here."


	39. Going Up

_**Samantha**_

"So this is the sky..." I murmured, checking out my surroundings. The beach was pretty, I'll give it that, but I saw nothing magical about this area.

"Looks like a simple beach to me."

"But it's not." said an old man. "The sky is a portal between places and also a place of concentration itself. If you thought hard enough, you could change your entire perception of this place, and walk away into a completely different location, while we would remain here."

I focused on him closely and saw that he was the same man I met at the library.

"Hey, I remember you!" I started. "I beat you and stole your book!"

The others gave him a confused look and he blushed.

"Well, you didn't _beat_ me, and I let you take the book so we could find you when the time was right."

"Does this mean you are going to prosecute me for using magic?" I asked, defensively. I knew I was outnumbered, but I would at least try to kill him before they all took me out.

The other guy, Edriss, shook his head.

"No. After watching your ordeal, it's clear we have something much worse to deal with, that beast, and especially that little girl."

One of the female mages turned towards me.

"What has possessed her to reanimate the dead and awaken a curse? Where did she get her powers from in the first place?"

"My sister." I explained, getting tired of talking about this.

"My family found magic and used it to get everything we wanted, which caused the curse to first appear. It was determined to kill all of us so I stripped myself off my original powers while looking for ways to defeat it. My sister, on the other hand, refused to give up her powers and the life she led. I thought she had actually done it when our house was destroyed and the little girl appeared but I was wrong. I'm not even sure if my sister actually loved that girl, or if the girl was solely there as a backup plan if the curse got her."

Edriss waved his hand, and suddenly we were at my house, standing in the middle of the street. Before I could have a heart attack, the old man said,"Don't worry, we're here, but undetectable and completely safe."

Edriss snapped his fingers to draw my attention. "Your entire house was destroyed when the curse ended, right?"

I nodded.

"And now it's been completely restored. Do you have any idea what she intends to do with the house once her plan plays out?"

"No," I snapped, irritated. "Can't any of you find out? Can't one of you see the future or something?"

"Most people don't practice that type of magic anymore. It's dangerous, and it develops into it's own curse within itself." said one lady.

"And besides," said Edriss. "That's not the reason we're here."

A red wave of light outlined everyone's bodies, including mine, and the our surroundings twisted and warped into an entirely different location. The smell of the ocean was gone. The cool breeze was replaced by a harsh chilling wind. We were in a city, standing on the sidewalk next to a black and grey skyscraper. Some of the other mages weren't on the sidewalk, they were standing in the middle of the street.

"This is why we are using the sky." Edriss pointed to the building.

"The vampires are busy. They're preoccupied with their curse, preoccupied with finishing off your werewolf boyfriend, and preoccupied with killing themselves. This is all works in our favor."

"Why would they be killing themselves?" I asked.

"There are two reasons why," said the old man.

"But first, I think this has gone on long enough without a proper introduction. My name is Harry. Edriss has already introduced himself. The others are Mario, Christopher, Lisa, and-"

"I don't _care_ about them," I snapped, while avoiding eye contact with them."Tell me about the vampires."

Harry walked past me and pointed upwards at the top floor.

"Right now, at this very moment, the vampires from the Midwest territory have come for a... a meeting." He said with a smile.

"What are they meeting about?"

Now Harry, Edriss, and all the other people I neglected to learn about looked at me like I was dumb.

"The werewolves!" Harry exclaimed.

"Your boyfriend brought them back, and now, they're multiplying like rats."

"But they aren't the only werewolves," I protested. "There were still a couple scattered about this territory, and there's still about a couple hundred in the entire United States."

"That may be true, but if the leader of the werewolves, the strongest and fastest, came from this territory, you can be sure they'd be trying to weed them out.

"Harry makes a good point." said Edriss. "There are three werewolves here that are so strong they can't even be killed, only hidden and contained. They've escaped, and it's obvious who their coming for."

"So, to punish them on their failures," said one woman. "The Midwest has come to kill the Western head of vampires and to take over the territory."

"What is this red thing around us?" I asked, waving my hand and watching the red light grow brighter.

"It's a protection shield. We may be in the sky, but the vampires are the ones controlling it." said Edriss.

"For now," said the woman. "The only reason we're able to use it is because these Midwest vampires traveled through the sky. They access it from a physical object, unlike us, who can access it with our magic. It's an unusual type of object. It can take the shape of anything it's beholder desires. Knowing them, it's probably a ring, a necklace, or a choker. They overheated the thing and now have to wait for it to cool down. That's why we're safe now. But now, once they kill each other, they will fall apart. Your boyfriend will probably take out any remaining vampires with his new friends and the other vampire leaders will scramble to find someone to head the two territories.

"So you brought us here just to spectate?" I asked.

"No." said Edriss. "We're here to steal the cufflet and destroy it, after the dust settles and everyone's dead."

 _ **Jamie**_

The inside of the building was quieter than I expected. There where no guards to stop us, but plenty of people where moving about. We caught a couple of stares, but no one bothered us. People were leaving in droves.

"Where the hell are they going?" Donovan asked aloud.

"Don't know," said Isaac. But the majority of them are vampires, I can feel it. My natural instinct is to lunge at them, but something's wrong."

He was right. They weren't bothering us, this was obviously a set up.

"Let's try to get to the top and see what they do." I told the others. We made our way over and one lady pushed her way past us in a hurry. Donovan almost took her for a threat and was about to attack her, but Marissa held him back.

"Stop, idiot." She hissed. "These aren't our enemies."

"Then who are?!" He growled back. We've passed by vampire after vampire and not once have any of..." His voice trailed off has he looked at something behind us.

We turned and saw a tall man with brown skin and a navy blue suit. Unlike everyone else, he was looking right at us, smiling and unconcerned.

"Allen, right? That's your name?"

He turned his attention towards Allen, who was at the back group. Allen stepped forward and walked towards him. I could tell he gearing up to fight. I wanted to tell him to hold back, but I'd doubt it would have any effect.

"Yes it is." Allen said bluntly, eyes narrowed, watching the man's every move.

"How do you know me?" He asked.

"Oh, we _all_ know you around here." He said with a grin.

"Where do you get your information from?" Allen said angrily.

The man looked surprised.

"Hmm? Shaye hasn't told you about Gabriel by now? I'd have thought he'd fill you in on everything. It doesn't matter now, everything is all set."

Allen grabbed the man's jacket and slammed him against the wall.

"If you don't tell me who you are and what's about to happen I'm gonna-"

"My name...is London." The man interrupted him. His entire expression changed now, he had anger in his eyes.

"I don't like what's about to happen any more than you do."

He grabbed Allen's shirt and his hands burst into flame. Allen wrenched himself from the man's grip and tried to punch him, but the entire man's body became a wall of flame.

He dissipated and the tiny little remnants of the fire scattered everywhere. Allen turned to us, his shirt scorched with two big holes.

"I can fix that," Shaye offered. "Or rather, I can make it look like that never happened."

Allen looked furious. "I really couldn't care less." He told Shaye. "I just want to find Danielle and finish this.

Shaye made a small gesture towards Allen and his clothes magically restored themselves.

"Let's get in the elevator."

We all walked quickly towards the elevator, this time, without any surprises. The building had twenty floors, and there were two extra buttons that were blank, along with a emergency button. They all had a white backlight that was a little dimmed out on the top floors. Below the buttons was a black glass panel, and right next to them was a sign that said:

 **Levels 17-20 have faulty wiring, and as a result, the door will not open automatically.**

 **You must push the button with the door open signal when the elevator stops. Thank You, and have a nice day**.

"Which one do we click on?" Marissa asked Shaye.

Everyone looked at Shaye, but he seemed unsure himself.

"Last time I was here, I went to 19, but I'm not sure if..." His voice trailed off as he kept gazing at the buttons. His eyes started to glow and it seemed as if he forgot we existed.

Marissa let out an exasperated sigh. She shoved him out of the way, breaking his concentration. She pressed 19 and the elevator started to move upwards.

"No! Why did you do that?!" He exclaimed.

"You were taking too long." She snapped. "Did you forget why we came here?"

The elevator jerked to a stop, making everybody jump except Shaye.

"Did you forget that I've already been here?" He snapped back.

"I don't even know if this will work again. The second I stepped off the elevator, guards were stopping me from going into a certain room. They stopped me then, when I was alone. Who knows what they'll do now?"

Marissa kept her silence, choosing to stare at the sign instead of us. She reached for the buttons again but Shaye reached his hand out.

"It says that 17-20 have faulty wiring, but they don't, you just need a special clearance to get to them." Shaye pulled out a card.

"That's why I'm not sure this will work anymore. And there is no door signal on any of these buttons." He pointed to the blank ones.

"This is some sneaky crap that Isaac would think up. I would never dare to press these."

He held up his card against the black glass and waited. It flashed red while scanning the card, but then it turned purple.

Shaye backed up and bumped into me.

"What?" asked Allen. "What's wrong now?"

Shaye swallowed. "The last time I was here, it lit up green."

Everyone looked at each other as the door started to open. It creaked and stopped midway, big enough to see through, but none of us could've squeezed through it except maybe Marissa. Looking through it, we couldn't see anything. It was almost completely dark with a flickering light.

"Allow me." said Donovan. We all moved around so he could teach the elevator door. He cracked his neck and popped his knuckles for no apparent reason, then proceeded to try to stretch his arms in this tiny elevator.

He almost smacked Isaac in the face, but Isaac caught his hand and squeezed it so hard it looked like he was trying to crush it.

"It's cramped enough in here as it is. Hurry up and get us out." He growled.

Donovan yanked his hand away and gave Isaac a hard stare. He then grabbed both sides of the elevator door and forced them back so hard they broke through the elevator walls. The lights behind the buttons completely went out but nobody was paying attention to that.

Outside of the elevator was not a room. It was barely a hallway. The entire floor of this level was completely gone. There was nothing but a huge trench of darkness below, and it looked like it could go on forever. Most of the lights on the ceiling were out, and the few that worked were barely on, flickering in and out, hardly illuminating anything. At the end of the hallway hallway were three rooms without doors. There were no signs and no buttons anywhere.

"So Shaye, was it like this the last time you came?" asked Allen.

"Of course not." said Shaye, mystified. "Give me a second to figure this out."


	40. Stalling

_**Allen**_

"Any volunteers to die first?" asked Donovan.

Nobody responded.

"Really...well... I nominate Allen as tribute." He said jokingly. Donovan patted my shoulder and nudged me forward, a nervous smile on his face.

Marissa pulled me back.

"I'm sick of your issues with Allen. Why don't you just shut up and keep all of your little ideas and thoughts to yourself?" She said angrily.

"Actually," I started. "That might be a good idea. Our wolf claws are sharp, right? Probably sharp enough to go through these walls. So I'm thinking if I transform into my wolf man form and jump, I should be able to climb these walls. Or at least hold onto them."

Everyone looked worried, even Donovan.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Jamie.

"Yes. I'm positive. And I'm not trying to put you out there, but I think you should try too," I said, talking to Donovan.

"You also have the form." I reminded him. "We could split up. You could try to make it to the other side, and I'll slowly make my way down."

"What if the walls are reinforced, or something like that? What if we can't punch and claw our way through them?"

I had to think about that. If we both fell down, the mission would practically end. That is, depending on what's down there. The way Shaye looked when he saw the pit, I felt like there might be something down there. Maybe even Danielle. It certainly looked like a place they would torture someone, and it had to have been built for a reason.

"I'll go first, of course. If I plummet to my death, you know what _not_ to do. You can go back down and use the stairs. Simple."

"Fine." said Donovan. He cracked his neck both ways. "Let's go."

Everyone backed away to make space for me. I closed my stretched a little, and imagined the wolf form taking over. I imagined my hands and arms getting bigger, changing before my eyes. I imagined running around, jumping high, being completely free from all responsibility.

My whole body shuddered and I got goosebumps. My arms started to each and I thought harder. I thought about my extremely strong sense of smell, and the grass, dirt, and trees. I thought about my fight with Donovan, and my concentration broke. My teeth got sharper and bit into my tongue. I tasted blood, and my heart started pounding. All I could imagine was me tearing Donovan apart, ripping out his throat, biting his heart in half and cutting off his head. I felt a small touch on my back and heard a voice.

"Allen, are you okay? We can't read your mind right now."

I blinked. At some point I grabbed the elevator doors for support but my grip was too strong. I had broken the walls of the elevator while I was trying to transform. I had succeeded, but something was off with my transformation. I didn't feel like I had control.

"Come on. Let's see if we can do this." Donovan told me.

I mumbled a low growl. _I got this._ I concentrated.

After a count of three, I half ran half jumped out of the elevator and aimed for the left side. The impact felt like nothing but I furiously slammed my claws into the metal, hoping they would cut through.

Any fortunately, they did. I was hanging from my arms like a cat about to fall out of a tree, but I made it. My wolfish paws scrambled about until I was able to make a decent foothold. Peering into the darkness, I still couldn't see anything, but I was a lot less worried about what was down there.

I let go with my left hand and foot, and slowly turned myself over to look at the elevator. There they were, Shaye and Jamie were smiling and Marissa was clapping. Isaac was watching quietly as Donovan began to move.

Unlike me, He didn't transform before jumping. He had pushed the others out if the way and was already teetering on the edge. Everyone faces went to shock and before they could reach for him, he leapt out the door.

Donovan jumped at an incredible height and shifted into the man wolf form in midair. He landed directly above me, slamming into the wall so hard I started to lose grip.

"Donovan, be careful!" Jamie yelled.

My claws slipped and I plunged into the darkness. Even though I had survived worse I still had an irrational fear of heights. My pulse quickened and I closed my eyes. I tried to imagine jumping off the balcony at the hotel, but I remembered that back then, I actually knew where I was going to land at. In this moment, darkness was wrapped all around me. And that's exactly how long it lasted. A moment. I hit a wet flat surface with a small _thud._ My wolf form felt no pain, so I opened my eyes and returned my body to it's normal form.

Everything I saw made me want to vomit.

Dozens, maybe hundreds of bodies were scattered about all across this blank, otherwise empty room. The darkness must have been an illusion, because the room was fairly lit with a bright light. I couldn't see above me. There was nothing but a huge ceiling of darkness that expanded, I couldn't see the end. I didn't see Donovan, or the elevator, or the other rooms.

The bodies littered across the floor smelled rotten and decayed, some more than others. And the blood, the cold red and black liquid that covered the floor had an old dried up smell, even the parts that looked fresh. _These are vampire bodies._ I realized. Something, or someone, murdered all of them.

I quickly got to my feet and wiped the blood off of my hands. I tried to stop myself from vomiting but I was too disgusted to put my hands near my face. It harsh smell hit my nose and got stronger, it my eyes tear up and I started to gag.

"Allen! ALLEN!" I heard the others call out to me from above.

"Are you okay?" said Marissa alone.

"Are you still falling?" Shaye shouted.

I took deep breaths and began to speak, when suddenly I heard a sticky, wet footstep, like someone was walking barefoot across the bloody floor. I didn't dare move.

"ALLEN! LET US KNOW IF YOU'RE OKAY SO WE CAN COME DOWN AND-" I channeled everything I could and manifested a mental connection so I could tell Marissa to shut up.

 _I'm not the only living thing down here, and it's not safe! Be quiet and stay put, this seems to be a illusion._

I slowed my breathing and waited to see if they would respond. A second later Marissa whispered into my mind ' _Okay, we'll wait on your signal'._

Whatever was behind me took a few more steps forward.

"Allen." It whispered. "Allen."

I took a step forward and it took more steps forward. There was nowhere to run out hide, no doors, walls or windows. I closed my eyes and listened to the footsteps. Whatever it was, it might've been limping, but it was moving just as I was moving.

I stepped on something and opened my eyes. It was the hand of a mangled vampire, I could tell by the smell. I lifted my foot and saw that I had crushed two of his fingers. Not that it mattered.

"Is it you Allen?" said the voice in a harsh whisper. "Stop moving. Please. Turn around."

I was able to run but my instincts wouldn't let me. I was _not_ going to end up like all these vampires.

 _Allen it's been too long. Are you okay? Are you still going to give us a signal?_

Marissa's voice echoed in my head.

"Stop running!" Whatever it was had raised it's voice, and it sounded feminine.

"Turn around and look at me, now." It demanded, voice cracking from strain.

 _Yes._ I thought to Marissa. _This is the signal, right...now._

 _"_ GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted as I transformed into my wolf man form. I kept my eyes closed and turned and slammed my fist into the floor right behind me, hoping it would give me some space and time. My fist caused a lot of dust to fly up, and it got into my face and almost made me sneeze. I heard a small thud to the side and saw that Donovan had made it down. A couple seconds later, everyone else followed suit.

 _This is good._ I thought. _Whatever this creature is, I have back up. We can all defeat this thing together._

Then the dust settled and I finally made eye contact with the creature.

And she was smiling.

She stood to her feet and wiped blood off her cheek.

"Allen... You came." She said to me.

Shaye spoke before I could even grunt.

"Danielle, what have they done to you?"

 _ **London**_

Those werewolves seemed full of power and energy. I've killed tons of them in my life, but these were in their own category. I understood why they were part of the plan. I just didn't know if Avery could control them. Once I made it back to Avery's floor I manifested back into my human body instead of the wall of frame. It was a struggle to breathe for a moment, but after the heat went away I spoke to Gabriel.

"Hey," I started. "I just made contact-"

"I know." he waved me off. " His eyes glowed purple and he tapped his temple. "Remember?"

He motioned towards Avery who was leaning against the wall with her phone in her hands. She texted for a few moments before shutting off the phone and closed her eyes. I walked over to ask her something and she raised her hand before I got close.

"Is Allen here?"

"Yes. along with the others."

"Thank God. The midwesterners arrived too early. My whole plan almost went up in smoke."

She put one hand up to her head and closed her eyes again. She looked like she was about to have a breakdown.

"So what do we do now?"

She opened her eyes and glared at me silently, as if wondering whether or not she should slap me.

"I'm going to go talk to them. Gabriel must make sure that Allen and his group are trapped in the illusion until the meeting is over. Afterwards, you and whoever is left will burn this entire building to the ground."

I thought I had zoned out for a second.

"Wait, what?! Why are we burning the building down?"

Gabriel appeared next to me, but kept silent.

"We can't reason with the vampires from the Midwest, it's pointless. It's better to go out in a blaze of glory than be taken out like a chump." She replied bluntly, no emotion in her expression.

"But there are several other ways we can go about this! Why don't we just run- ugh!"

She grabbed me by throat and lifted me off of my feet. I could feel her sharp nails digging into my skin, the rotten, decayed flesh that had covered her chest now spread all the way down to her arm, covering the palm of her hand.

"We do not and will not run, _ever_! I will not lose to those people! They will not take over my father's territory and I will not ruin my family's name by becoming a coward! Do you understand me?!" She growled.

Gabriel decided to intervene.

"Enough of this. We're following your plan to the end, and there's no going back. Allen's going to lose control any minute now. The last of the werewolves in our territory have been rounded up and trapped in cages and the midwest has no idea what's coming. Today, we're gonna kill the biggest birds ever with one stone. Your father would be proud Avery, I know it."

Avery slowly loosened her grip on me and set me down. She had tears in her eyes, something I would've never thought I'd get to see based on what they told me she'd be like.

"You can't be this weak when you face them, you know that, don't you?" Gabriel asked her, which I thought was rude.

"I know. I need blood, even if it kills me, even if I vomit, even if it tastes like acid and toilet water it'll return me to full strength and I'll be ready."

"At the same time, it could fully complete the revenant transformation. That, and the way you used to act..."

"Just find me someone. Alive. The fresher the blood is the more energy I have."

I grabbed Avery's shoulder. "You can take mine, I'll be fine." I told her. "I want to help you this last time in any way that I can."

Avery looked like she wanted to say something but changed her mind and gave me a big hug instead.

"Thank you " She whispered against my chest.

"No problem." I whispered back.

I looked over to see what Gabriel would think about this, but he seemed to be completely disconnected from his surroundings. His eyes were glowing gold and they kept changing from light to dark. He wasn't looking at us or anything in the room. He was probably dealing with Allen.

"London," said Avery. "I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise me that none of the vampires from the Midwest leave this building. Promise me that them, and this entire building, will be nothing but ash after today is over."

"I promise." I told her, and hugged her tighter.

She looked up to me and kissed me on the cheek. Then she softly tilted my head to the side and her sharp fangs sunk into my neck.


	41. Inside

_**Shaye**_

 _Allen, be careful. We don't know what they've done to get, or what state her mind is in. She could be under their control._

I highly doubted Allen would listen to me. Sure enough, he didn't move, didn't take his eyes off her. I inched closer to his big, beastly form to cover his back. Jamie and the others followed slowly.

"You came to save me," said Danielle, voice cracking again. "I thought I'd be trapped down here forever."

"Allen don't trust her!" Donovan, of all people, shouted.

"Look at her, you can tell they've screwed her up. Who knows what they did with her after they took her."

Her smile slid off her face like butter in a skillet. I felt my chest tighten, suddenly it felt like I was breathing through a straw. Then me, Donovan, and everyone except Allen went flying backwards into a wall. I wasn't anywhere near as durable as these super werewolves that the vampires couldn't even kill. I almost blacked out and every ounce of strength I had in my body dissipated.

Blinking away spots, wiping the dead vampire blood off my face, I saw Danielle embrace Allen then softly but forcefully jab him in center of his back, and run run her hand down his spine. I thought I was imagining it because of all the pain, but no, he was actually reverting back to human form! Donovan was right!

She opened her mouth and leaned towards his ear, so I used my powers to listen in.

"Allen... You have to get us out of here. You have to find a way."

She breaks down and begins to cry.

"I can't escape. The more I try the more people they send to stop me. And the more people they send the more I... I... _I just can't take it anymore_!" She screams.

"I can't take it Allen! Please! Please!"

"Is this endearing or pathetic? Because I can't tell."

I'd recognize that voice from anywhere. Gabriel, in a silky blue suit emerged from a dark shadow he created, and the whole room started to change. Suddenly, it wasn't a huge chamber without a ceiling. It looked like an big empty office room without any furnishings, a door on both sides of the room, and one of the walls was completely made out of windows, allowing us to see the sun setting behind other buildings outside.

No, that can't be right. That has to be another illusion, there's no way we've been here that long.

"Oh, but you have. You've been here for hours. You just didn't notice." said Gabriel, reading my mind.

He kept his distance from us and Allen, who stood at the center of the room, holding a distraught Danielle in his arms.

"I guess you also failed to notice that the one thing that isn't an illusion, besides yourselves of course, is the amount of dead vampires in room. The amount of dried up- and still fresh- blood that covers this floor. This was all your pretty little friend there, Danielle."

Danielle lifted her head up and turned towards Gabriel, eyes filled with malice.

"I'll kill you!" She screamed with rage.

She half ran half flew towards Gabriel in a way no other creature could have possibly done, only to fly straight through him and hit the wall.

"Did I not say you guys are the only things that aren't illusions in this room?"

Despite this, Danielle continued to lunge at Gabriel. Every now and then he instinctively dodged, but he mostly stayed still, with the same smirk on his face. She swiped, grabbed, punched and kicked to no avail.

"You're a coward, you know that don't you?

Gabriel looked at me for a quick second, and Danielle swung as hard as she could. Her fist went completely through his head, but somehow it still jarred him, causing him to stumble backwards a little.

My little remark meant nothing to Gabriel. His eyes lit up green, the spheres floating out orange and Danielle's eyes turned the same color.

I jumped up and ran to them as she put her face in her hands and screamed.

But Allen was faster.

He was back in his wolf form, bearing down on Gabriel in a matter of seconds. He slashed downwards, intending on ripping off Gabriel's face, but went straight through, just like Danielle did. Gabriel laughed at the effort.

"I'm not here to play games with you two-"

All of hairs on Allen's body stood on end. He punched Gabriel and the hit connected. Gabriel smacked the ground with a huge thud. He yelled at the floor and spat out blood.

"What in the hell? How did you touch me?!"

Allen, now back in human form, had a slim fiery aura surrounding him. The aura was an unnatural white, and his eyes gave the same light.

"Your magic can't save you from me." He growled.

Gabriel was holding his now swollen jaw.

"It doesn't need to. I'm just buying time."

Allen's head shifted to the left and I followed his gaze. Walking into the room from one of the doors was Avery, in a long black dress that reached her ankles with a matching coat.

I activated my eyes and the spheres began to fly. This Avery was also an illusion. Where were they hiding? What, or who, was so dangerous that they were keeping their distance?

Suddenly, ten vampires came in after her, each one of them flesh and blood.

Instead of attacking, they all lined up side by side, awaiting orders.

Donovan and the others were getting ready to fight when Danielle's screamed and vanished into thin air.

But my magic allowed me to see beyond what normal mortal eyes could see, and she was still there. She had crouched down and was clutching her ears tightly, shaking her head wildly.

The others couldn't see this.

"Where did she go?!" screamed Allen.

"Allen, she's still there!" I called out to him. "They're playing tricks on us!"

"Shut up, _Shaye_." Avery said venomously.

"You're pushing your luck. You shouldn't have lived this long."

"Tell me where Danielle is!" Allen started to go after Avery but the dead vampires at his feet rose and grabbed his legs. They weren't actually moving, but to Allen and everyone else, they were.

"Allen, listen to me. Those vampires at dead, they are not touching you and they are _not_ moving. Danielle is in the same exact spot she was in before. Don't believe anything you see."

"Then why can I feel them touching me!?"

He screamed while stomping the dead vampires. He completely crushed the skulls of the ones he thought were touching him, but others were starting to get closer. That's when he started to back away. I had hoped he would keep fighting but seeing dead things move again would scare anybody shitless.

Donovan, Jamie, Marissa and Isaac also believed the dead vampires were moving. They all began shapeshifting except Isaac, who ran at the dead and attacked them with superhuman strength, ripping them apart and throwing corpses. At least, that's what he thought he was doing. The illusion was so strong I could still see even after focusing my power.

I couldn't help everyone at once. Not against Gabriel. For some reason, Allen was their target, so he was my first priority.

"Allen, turn around, look at me. None of those are real. Trust me! Just turn around and look at me!"

He finally did as I told him and as soon as he made eye contact I sent a little of my magic into his own eyes so Gabriel's illusions would disappear.

Still breathing hard, he scanned the room and saw things with a whole new light, literally. He saw through Avery and Gabriel, he saw the vampires were still in the same spots they had been in and most importantly, he saw Danielle curled up on the floor.

I reclaimed my magic as he ran towards her and heard Avery laughing across the room.

"It's so amusing, he's been spying on you the whole time and he asks you to trust him!"

"Shut up, witch." Allen replied. "You're not even brave enough to come here in the flesh."

"Maybe that's because I have more important things to attend to. Because of these _demons_ you've surrounded yourself with, Allen."

"Demons?" Allen scoffed. "You call them demons? Look at this room! You've done this! Look at Danielle!

Who are you anyway? What sort of vampire cult crap is this?!"

"This is just one of the many testing areas of vaccines to fight the disease that comes from them! You don't much about those werewolves do you? I bet Shaye can tell you, because he's had his eyes on you ever since you and Danielle were working in the park. In fact, he was watching even before then, when your friend Jacob got himself killed by the same werewolves that you came with!"

Allen looked at Marissa and the others, who, all but Isaac, had physically turned into wolves and were fighting the illusions. Then he turned to look at me, and he looked tired, so tired, like this just being in this room was draining his energy.

"H-how? That doesn't make sense, they were all chained up. If you've been watching the entire time, why haven't you told me what happened to him? Why didn't you help me before I went with Samantha?"

 _ **Gabriel**_

 _Gabriel,_ I heard in my head. _Have Allen and the others found Danielle yet?_

Avery was making her way towards the Midwest vampires on the highest floor. I could almost sense her purpose and determination. After drinking London's blood, she most likely sealed her fate and became a full revenant. Her skin still isn't as rotten or haggard as a regular revenant, but it was getting there quicker than I thought it would. I put a glamour over her body to make it appear normal to the vampires from the other territories.

 _Yes._ I responded. _They found her._

 _Keep them busy. This could take a minute._

As much as I wanted to do what she said, I had to watch this meeting myself. I opened my mind, finding a stronger connection to the illusions I placed with Allen and the others, and tried to imagine everything Avery and I would have done if we were truly there. Then I disconnect myself from the illusions and let them play out themselves.

Running up the stairs as fast as I could, I had just missed the beginning of the conversation when I entered the hallway to Avery's office.

The one in front wore grey jogging pants and a grey hoodie, as if he was just going out for an evening run. His crew was not as underdressed as he was. The men looked like bouncers at a club, and the few girls in his clique looked like they were getting ready to have fun at that club. I know different territories have different rules for staying undercover, and this one wasn't as bad as others. There's at least one territory that hides as homeless people.

"Glad you could join us," said the leader of the other vampires.

"My name is-"

"Chris, I believe."

Chris stared at me for a second.

"Yes, yes it is. I find it weird you still have mindreaders in this dump."

Avery turned and glared at me, and I felt as if I shrunk ten inches.

"We know why you came. Just get to the point." Avery said bluntly, unblinking.

Chris smirked. "I assume you've handled the werewolves, as you promised you would."

"All of the werewolves have been gathered within the confines of this building." Avery told the leader. There are no werewolves running around in this region."

"Are you sure about that?" asked one of the girls in the group. We killed three on the way here."

That's impossible." I said aloud, forgetting I was only supposed to watch.

Chris, the leader, smiled at him.

"Oh, yes, it is possible. The three werewolves your father failed to kill apparently have some type of disease too. Every human they come into contact with has become huge, wolfish beasts with no sense of purpose. They aren't even werewolves, they can't go back to normal. This whole territory is tainted and we're gonna purify it, starting with you."


	42. Change

_**Gabriel**_

"You're a fool if you thought I'd just roll over and die." Avery said angrily.

She snapped her fingers and the other guards phased through the walls and entered the room. They flanked me and Avery on both sides, preparing for a fight.

The other vampires laughed.

"These idiots won't be a threat. Magicians have reported their magic is fading. How long do you think your wonderfriends have before they get the dry spell?"

"Long enough to kill you," I spoke up, getting tired of listening to them.

Before their leader could turn in my direction, I felt a rush of wind and saw a couple of the vampires feet knocked back by a blur. I looked to my side and Avery was gone.

The midwest leader, Chris, screamed in anguish. His left arm had been completely ripped off at the elbow, the stump spewing blood I didn't think vampires had. I didn't see pain in his face, I only saw fury.

"THAT'S IT!" Chris screamed. "FIND HER! KILL THEM! MURDER EVERYONE IN THE BUILDING!"

With his good arm he pointed at me, the guards, and dramatically pointed at the floor.

"BURN THIS PLACE DOWN!"

A girl, taller than me, short hair and purple lip gloss had her nails digging into my scalp before he finished his sentence. Staring right into her bloodshot eyes I imagined her slamming my head through a wall before I heard a loud, eerie laughter. I thought it was one of the other midwest vampires but they froze too.

I looked past my captor and saw Chris had turned around. On the floor crouched down behind him was Avery, tearing the flesh off of his missing arm with her teeth. She paused to turn around, and laughed.

The moment I saw her face my heart stopped cold. My glamour was gone, and so was Avery's pretty face. Rotten, peeling and gray, it seemed the revenant disease had spread quickly after ingesting Chris's arm. It was clear her other skin had transformed as well. There was no turning back for her now.

"Burn this place down?" She repeated quickly, her breathing increasing.

"Burn this place down? Burnthisplacedown?Burnthisplacedown?! I HAD THE SAME IDEA!" She snarled as leapt past him towards me.

She shoved her right hand through the girls throat, showering me with blood. Using the same hand to grab the girl's chin, she turned the girl towards Chris.

"Who's next?" Avery said, smiling evilly while pantomiming with the girl.

"Guards, you know what to do."

I watched as London slammed his have against the wall and uttered an incantation. The others did the same, placing their hands on the floor and walls. Within seconds, orange light trickled from the fingertips and the everything started to burn. Some of the guards teleported and began to burn the other floors.

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" Chris growled, confused. "You're not going to trap us here!"

He shouted something unintelligible to his crew and they all ran towards me and Avery.

"We still have a chance Gabriel." Avery said to me in a harsh whisper.

Her current appearance was hard to look at, but I had no choice.

"Get to Danielle's containment room. Finish brainwashing Allen. That's the only area the guards won't be burning but the whole building will collapse so you don't have a lot of time."

"What if Shaye stops me? What if I fail?"

"Don't."

She looked at the other vampires, hissed, and got ready for the attack.

Just as she was ready to pounce, all of othe vampires turned into a swarm of hundreds of loud, chittering bats, a gigantic black mass completely consuming Avery. I could hear her screams begin to muffle as the swarm attacked her from all sides. Across the room, the Midwest leader stood grinning at the bats, his half eaten arm in hand.

Then he turned his attention towards me.

I activated my eyes, getting ready to defend Avery and kill this bastard, when London put his hand on my shoulder.

"You fighting him is not part of the plan. Do what you set out to do."

His hand on my shoulder glowed while he motioned to the other guards. One of them struck the vampire leader when electricity, blasting him against the wall while the others through fireballs at the bats, causing them to scatter. This gave Avery enough time to break free from the swarm. She gave herself enough distance to gather some strength and begin attacking the swarm itself, ripping individual bats apart when her hands and teeth while the guards burned more.

"It's under control Gabriel. Go."

I took his advice and ran towards the door. It was going to be hard to keep the normal illusion of Avery together after seeing her like this, but I would have to try.

 _ **Shaye**_

"It's not my fault, I was still working with them at the time, I couldn't intervene. She's trying to make me out like a bad guy, but they've been controlling us all. I was _forced_ to watch you! I was forced to slightly impact your decision with my powers. They would have killed me otherwise! I finally caved in after they took Danielle and made her into, into whatever she is now! "

I didn't care if that upset her or Allen. I had to get them to understand that this was part of the vampires plan.

I heard a loud crash nearby and I saw a secret entrance kicked open. I saw an orange light pouring in while smoke began to seep into the room.

I looked at the Gabriel illusion, who had gotten up and began staring at the door.

"What's going on?" I called at to him.

"What's burning out there?"

"Everything is, I'm afraid." said Gabriel's voice, but from a different direction. I turned towards the door again and see the real Gabriel standing at the door. His clothes don't appear to be burned but he looks like he got mugged, his clothes all disheveled and blood streaming from his forehead. He's coughing heavily from the smoke. I tried to use my powers to see past this room but I couldn't. There must have been some barrier in place after all.

"Well, I'll be damned. I didn't even have a coporeal form and I still got my beat. Life sucks."

"You're damn right it does." snapped Allen.

"You're going to pay for this." I told Gabriel, activating my eyes and creating hovering balls of fire. He paid me no mind, and stared at Allen with a fierce intensity.

"Nothing my duplicate and Avery have said has been wrong, Allen. Sure, Shaye has been doing those things, but it's not his fault, the werewolves themselves are to blame."

Even I was confused by that. What was his endgame?

"What are you talking about?" Allen demanded.

"You should know." he replied. "Marissa and the other two are dangerous. Their bodies are infected and anyone too close to them will get turned into a beast. Not a werewolf, just a regular psychotic wolf. Why do you think you became a wolf man instead of a wolf?"

"That's completely different." said Allen. "I can control myself in that form. I wasn't mindless."

"That's because you were scratched by Marissa shortly after. If not, you would've been feral by the morning. I don't think you understand-"

A loud crash boomed above us, and the building shook. Even though Gabriel stopped talking, he paid no more attention to the chaos.

His eyes lit up and sparked, and he raised his hand towards Allen.

"Just let me show you..."

"ALLEN NO!" I shouted.

I was too late. Allen was being mesmerized by Gabriel, and the other werewolves were fighting illusions of dead bodies. Suddenly, I saw Danielle running towards Gabriel, but I knew that wouldn't work well. Gabriel looked at her once and she collapsed on the floor.

"This is too much work," he muttered, and the Avery illusion disappeared.

"Allen look into the past, and see everything. From my mind, not yours. See the truth."

Allen's face drooped while being mesmerized and he fell to his knees, holding his arms out like he was carrying something.

I couldn't stand by and let him get corrupted. I had to see what they saw. Activating my eyes, I sent spheres of light circling around them. Gabriel noticed and smiled. He looked at me, his eyes flaming purple and red.

"You want to see that bad? Go ahead."

Gabriel sent spheres of light from his own eyes and they came at me like bullets. I couldn't run, think or blink before they flew into my eyes and burned my skull. I fell to my knees rubbing my eyes, crying and screaming at the same time.

"I kill you!" I screamed. "Wait till I get out of this, I'm gonna burn every inch of your... your..." I paused.

My eyes still burned, but my voice... Slowly, while I was talking I stopped sounding like me and I sounded like... I sounded like...

"You see Allen, this is what they did to you. To your friends. They've ruined all of you.

I opened my eyes and in my arms was a gigantic dead dog. It smelled like rain and it was still warm. I wanted to get that huge animal out of my lap but I had no control of my arms. Activating my eyes, I scanned the animal and saw that it was actually Allen's dead friend, Jacob. My arms trembling and I realized I wasn't in my own body. I was coinhabiting Allen's.

"That's not all they've done." Gabriel's voice spoke from everywhere. They visited Danielle's house while trying to find you. Just look at the result. Our surroundings changed, but Jacob's wolf corpse stayed in Allen's arms. Suddenly, we were sitting on floor in Danielle's living room, and there was blood all across the floor. Allen jumped as a dark creature appeared behind him and licked his ear.

The beast had silky black hair, shinier than any I'd ever seen on a werewolf. I was shocked to see the wolf had normal human eyes besides a faint green glow.

"Follow it." Gabriel taunted Allen. "It... Or should I say she, wants to show you something."

Allen finally let go of his friend and follow that large animal into the hallway, were he saw pictures of Danielle and her family on the walls.

Then he noticed the blood that stained the doors of each room.

"NO!" he screamed. He punched the wall and knocked down a few pictures and a small mirror. Allen tried to run down the hall to the rooms but there was a barrier stopping him.

"Let me go! Let me go! Damn it!" He screamed, wiping tears from his eyes.

The big dog picked up the mirror and was trying to give it to Allen, but Allen pushed the dog back. Then the dog walked past him, as if the barrier was never there, and held the mirror in it's mouth, growling menacingly. Allen reached his hand out towards the dog, and this time, there was no barrier. He took one step forward to test the barrier before walking normally and crouching in front of the dog. It was so huge it blocked Allen's path, so he had no choice but to see what it wanted to show him. He took the mirror from the dog's mouth and looked at it, but saw nothing.

"What was the point of this?" He asked angrily.

The dog barked and held out a paw. Slowly, Allen began to hand it back when he saw something. He angled it a certain way and he didn't see the reflection of a big burly dog. He saw the reflection of young looking hispanic woman, eyes dark empty sockets, tears coming down her face.

He dropped the mirror in shock.

"Mrs... Valdivia?" The dog let out a sorrowful moan and walked into the room on it's right.

Allen peered inside and saw Mrs. Valdivia's husband and their younger daughter, torn apart on the floor in two pools of blood.

And everything went black.


	43. Meaningless

_**Shaye**_

I woke up, steaming hot, sweating through my clothes. My nose and lungs burned with smoke. Colorful spots obscured my vision, but I could see burning things falling of the building from the wall with the huge window. There was an ambulance and firetrucks below, but I doubted they could save any of us.

I glanced over at Allen, and in his arms was Jacob's wolf corpse, just as he was in Gabriel's illusion. His fists were clenched and his eyes still glowing, an angry scowl on his face. Further behind him, six more people suddenly appeared in the room near the wall. They were all sitting beside each other on their knees, bloody, beaten, and dirty. Their hands were chained behind their backs, and a bright silver chain was around their throats. They all had their heads bowed, there wasn't much indicating whether or not they were alive. Some of their clothes were all but ripped up. They were either vampires, werewolves, or both. They could've been test subjects like Danielle. Or they could also be illusions.

"Donovan!" I shouted. Marissa! Jamie!"

I tried to get up and run but that illusion gave me vertigo. I fell to my knees, and the magical spots in my eyes didn't make things any easier. Gabriel was sapping my power while I was in his illusion. Trying to use my powers now was risky, but I was out of options.

"Isaac!"

He turned around and looked at be, but only for a second.

"What?!" He replied back, keeping his attention on the dead vampires.

"If you aren't going to help us fight don't distract me!"

"Just look at me for one second!" I pleaded.

He swung hard at one of the dead vampires then looked back at me, breathing heavily. I sent my spheres of light into his eyes as fast as I could, damaging my own vision in the process. While I struggle to see, Isaac begins to see the real world. All the dead vampires, laying on the floor, inanimate. Donovan and the others barking at and attacking nothing.

"How long have we been doing this? Why haven't you stopped us sooner?"

"It doesn't matter." I say to him. I blink a few times. Normally, my vision would've retuned by now. My powers were progressing further than I thought.

"Get the others attention." I directed him. "Once they look into your eyes the illusion will end."

I could heard Gabriel's laughter again.

"Did you enjoy your little tour, Shaye? It sucks to be Allen, doesn't it?"

Allen started growling in the center of the room, his body trembling with rage.

"Oh, you're mad now? We'll look around. This mutts did this to you. From the day you unearthed them in the park, your life has been out of control."

"Don't listen to him Allen! You have control!" I called out, squinting at a blurry blob.

"Control... I don't have control." Allen murmured.

"Marissa tried to control me... Samantha controlled me..." He turned around, and I'm sure he was looking at me.

"You.. even you controlled me."

"No, you don't know what you're talking-"

"SHUT UP!" he roared. "I CAN SEE IT!"

I squinted as hard as I could and saw that his eyes were still glowing. He was still under Gabriel's control.

"Think about it Allen," said Gabriel.

"Danielle's family is dead because of them. And she is completely broken. She doesn't know that they're dead. She probably can't even feel grief anymore. All because you two got caught in the midst of a war between werewolves and vampires. Do you see those people over there chained up?"

Gabriel pointed towards the downtrodden people bound behind Allen.

"Werewolves. The vampires have been killing and rounding them all up, trying to stop the plague of beasts before all of humanity is killed."

"Isaac! Make eye contact with Allen and break the illusion!"

Isaac ran to Allen but got stopped dead in his tracks. Allen held Isaac up by his neck and threw him into Donovan and the others while they were changing back to human.

"MARISSA! SAMANTHA! YOU! WHO ELSE CONTROLS ME?! WHO?!"

He slammed his fist against the floor and it created a cracked that spread across the floor.

Allen looked at me for a millisecond and suddenly I was being lifted off the floor.

"Who else?" He whispered while choking me. "Red Riding Hood? The tooth Fairy? Fucking Geppetto?!" He went back to shouting while repeatedly slamming me into the wall. Between suffocating and brain damage, I couldn't decide which death was first, when finally Jamie pulled him off me and blocked him off.

"Calm down Allen. You're not thinking straight."

Allen swung and Jamie caught his fist.

"I'm not thinking straight? Screw you! All of you. You've ruined our lives, and so many else's. Did you know you turned people into monsters just by being near them?!"

"We didn't find out until after we had visited Danielle's parents. This, whatever it is, is completely new to us. We didn't know what was happening to the people with left behind."

This only made Allen angrier. He roared and his wolf man form took over, punching Jamie in his stomach and sending him flying upwards towards the ceiling. The tiles broke and the light fixture fell on top of him, buzzing and sparking randomly.

"Maybe I should kill all of you and end this disgusting infestation." He spoke, in his actual wolf man form this time, properly. "Especially you three. Danielle's family is dead because of you. They treated _me_ like family. She deserves revenge. They all do."

I got to my feet just as Gabriel snapped his fingers.

"That's what I was waiting for." He smiled at me then spoke in my head.

 _That's how you do it Shaye. A little control, a little manipulation, and voila, you just created a tool, an instrument you can bend to your will. I'd say take notes, but you won't be surviving this one._

He turned away from me and walked towards the door.

"WAIT!" I demanded. "You haven't defeated me. You haven't fought anyone on your level. Come at me!" I taunted him.

"You won't be leaving after what you've done."

"You're right!" He said, putting on a fake smile once again.

"I forgot to do this." He snapped his fingers and looked in Danielle's direction.

"Danielle... Go."

The glow in her eyes faded and she got to her feet, moving slowly towards Donovan and Marissa.

"Guys, watch out!"

Donovan was already making his way toward Allen, but Danielle darted towards Marissa and started trying to tear her apart. Marissa blocked not of the hits but still got hurt. She transformed into her wolf form and kicked Danielle off of her, howling with rage.

I ignored my pain and walked towards Gabriel, who had stopped trying to run away. There was a tired look in his eyes, like he was too fatigued to do anything. Before I could talk his eyes glowed and little spheres flew out, surrounding us.

"Can you still see me?" He asked, clearly aware of my condition.

"Yes." I responded. "And my powers still work, so you won't be getting out of here."

"Why though?" He asked. "We should work together. There aren't that many mages that study this magic. We should help each other-"

"Shut up." I told him. "You can see the possible directions the future will take. You know that if we both fight, neither one of us will leave this building."

Gabriel swallowed. "Yes, I know. So why should we risk that?"

"Because I want to." I told him.

He chuckled then made a _tsk tsk_ sound.

"Well I don't."

Gabriel took off running through the door, and I ran after him. It in the hallway, everything was burning, the walls, the floor, the ceiling. I heard people yelling all over the place and saw two people, screaming and on fire.

Gabriel knew this building like the back of his hand, bobbing and weaving in and out rooms, running through random people. My chest was burning, it felt like knives were in my side but I couldn't give up. If I did, Gabriel could do the same to more people, or he could get away completely free.

I continued to chase him until we reached the top floor. I recognized the area, we were close to Avery's office. I heard sounds of a struggle amid the roar of the flames. I tried to follow him through a door and a bunch of screeching bats flew directly in my face. I fell backwards trying to avoid them and hit my head against the wall.

I saw pure darkness for a few seconds, but once I realized I was still conscious I got up and staggered into the room. Gabriel had stopped and was staring at something in the far end. I looked over and saw some vampire I'd never seen before. He was scarred all over, hair missing with burns and patches all over his body. His left arm ended in a bloody stump at the elbow, and it looked as if it was burned to cauterize the wound. I wasn't sure why, because vampires can reconnect their limbs if they aren't too badly damaged. In his good arm he held up a rotten looking revenant, severely burned by the flames. It's appearance was vaguely female and it's left arm was also missing. It was clearly a very recent kill because blood poured from a fist sized hole in her throat.

"How about that, huh?" said the vampire to Gabriel.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

He dropped the corpse on the floor, and I finally realized who it was. Avery.

"There isn't anything I can do about this place," said the vampire, surveying the room. "But it doesn't matter. I'll let it collapse. It was a monument to her and her father's failure anyways."

Gabriel clenched his fists and his eyes activated.

"Do you think you're going to fight me? Avery's little army did well but I still have plenty of friends left."

He let out a soft hiss and the bats returned, transforming into badly burned, angry looking regular people.

"I don't know what this is, but I'm not done with you Gabriel. You aren't escaping me." I told him, ignoring the other vampires.

"Fine then." He said through gritted teeth. "If you think you're strong enough come at me!"

He turned around, spheres flying and eyes blazing. I counted as fast as I could and suddenly we were trapped, locked into a deadly gaze of light. My body grew warmer and the world got brighter, separating us from our surroundings. A loud whistling sound pierced my ears as I stared at Gabriel. I couldn't blink. I couldn't move. I couldn't look away

"I thought you wanted to live!" I shouted, unsure if he was experiencing the same sounds as I was."

"I _will_ live. After I kill you." He shouted back, Intensifying his powers, trying to break my mind and blind me.

"What if that vampire kills you while we're in here?" I asked. "This as smart as you'd thought it be."

"You're an idiot." He snapped. "They can't touch us like this. Odds are, they can't even see us anymore. We are existing on an entirely different plane right now. Almost like the sky."

I began to feel a numbness in my arms. I looked over to see that they were both sparkling, breaking away from me to become part of the light surrounding us. It hadn't happened to Gabriel yet, but I saw him flinch from sympathy.

"Does it hurt?" He asks me, genuinely curious.

"No." I replied. "It doesn't hurt at all."

I felt like an idiot for attempting to stop Gabriel now. My powers were too drained from the start, this was a death wish. But now, being on this plane, higher than anyone else, I could see more things than I could before. My mind expanded and I could see the true threat. It wasn't Gabriel, the vampires or Allen, but it directly impacted everything.

"Gabriel, are you going to live through this?"

He looked at himself, he hadn't broken down at all.

"Probably, yeah." He laughed. "I'm sorry, but this place... It's amazing. I don't even feel like fighting you anymore. It's as if everything was meaningless. This... This is bliss."

"Everything is meaningless." I replied. I felt a chill creeping up all over my body. This colorful dimension didn't seem that fascinating anymore. I was starting to feel caged in.

He took a moment to stop absorbing in his surroundings and looked at me.

"Shaye... Your eyes are black."

My body jerked uncontrollably, I was freezing cold now.

"If you make it out of this, what will you do?"

Gabriel thought about it. "Nothing, guess."

"No." I told him. "The werewolf plague, the vampire curse, and magic drying out, it's all tied together. There's a powerful force that's sapping all of the forces of the supernatural to become immortal. I need you to help stop it."

"How am I supposed to do that?" He replied.

"Do what you've been doing. Manipulate. It's worked out well for so far. I failed to save Allen from your plans."

"All of that needed to happen." said Gabriel defensively. "We're stopping the spread of more werebeasts and we're ending the reign of vampires in that territory. Avery knew the whole time she'd fail to defeat them. She knew they wouldn't make a cure in time."

The cold was starting to take over my mind now, I almost wanted to sleep, but I had to make sure he would pursue the magical force.

"I couldn't care less." I replied to him. "Just make sure you help find that source of power and destroy it, otherwise no one will ever experience this again."

The colors of the world changed again, and I could tell I was disappearing more because we weren't making eye contact.

"I will."

In these last few moments of my life, I watched our world change several times. I thought about Allen and the others and an image popped up that both me and Gabriel could see. Donovan and Jamie were fighting Allen, but it was almost pointless. The magic he got from Samantha kept sustaining him, even if he wasn't trying to use it. Allen was slowing down, getting tired, but nowhere near as much as those two. Isaac was helping Marissa with Danielle. I didn't see a way where they all walked away from this.

"Did you ever reach the highest peak?" Gabriel asked. "Did your powers ever get that high?"

I looked down to see most of my body had vanished.

"I wouldn't be able to see you if I did.


	44. Formation

_**Isaac**_

"Are you sure you can handle her?" I asked Marissa.

Together we had thrown Danielle into the exit, breaking down the door.

"Yeah," said Marissa, breathless, pulling her long her out of her face.

"Go help them with Allen. He's a bigger issue."

"Alright."

I ran over to their direction and saw Allen and Donovan in wolfman forms, going head to head. Jamie was an incredibly large wolf but he looked minuscule compared to those two. I assumed Allen was the one Jamie kept nipping at, but he wasn't doing much to help Donovan. Allen and Donovan were swinging at each other like they were in a fistfight, going back and forth, causing the room to shake. A part of the ceiling fell on Allen's head, but he swatted it away like it was a minor annoyance. Both of the stopped and faced each other. You could see the exhaustion on their faces. Donovan, sensing it was over, began to shrink back into his regular form.

"You're so stupid," he panted. "Look, I'm sorry about Danielle's family. We didn't by know. You can't blame us for all the things that have happened."

Donovan should have waited until Allen became human to say that.

He kicked him dead in the chest and Donovan smacked the windows slightly cracking it, but not really making a dent.

"How thick is that glass?" I asked Jamie.

He shrugged his shoulders and kept his eyes on Allen as he transformed back into human.

"Allen, you need to calm down. Gabriel's all in your head right now, so you need to get-"

"No he isn't."

Allen popped his neck and covered his mouth, coughing from the smoke. Once he got his breathing under control, he surveyed the room, expressionless.

"Well.. if you're sure you're okay, we can get back to what we planned." asked Jamie.

All of them looked over and saw Marissa and Danielle still fighting. Danielle was moving as swift as a snake but it was clear she was exhausted. Her anger spurred her forward, but it could only do so much. After killing so many vampires, I didn't see how she had any fight left in her.

"Screw the plan." murmured Allen. He slowly walked over towards the captive werewolves while Donovan got up and made his way to him.

"Good idea," said Jamie. "We should free them."

"He's not trying to free them!" Donovan shouted as he tackled Allen just in time. Allen's right arm has turned hairy and dark, ending in extremely sharp claws.

"What are you doing?!" Jamie screamed as we all rushed to subdue him.

Allen broke free of Donovan's grip and pummeled him into the floor, bloodying up his face. Jamie reached out and Allen stuck his claws into his stomach lifting him up and throwing him towards me. I caught him and set him down gently while Allen rose to his feet.

"What's your problem?!" I demanded.

"You must still be under Gabriel's control."

Allen stared at me with no thought, no expression. Just complete emptiness.

"I already said I'm not."

"Then what's going on with you?!"

Allen scowled at me.

"What's going on? Are you serious? What do you think is going on? These vampires, werewolves and mages, have been controlling every single step I make. My roommate apparently had been working with them before me and Danielle even discovered the bunker and now he's dead. _Danielle's family is dead!"_ He shouted.

"And that wasn't the vampires. That was _them_." He pointed to Jamie and Donovan.

"People all over the city turning into big monstrous mutts because of them. Becoming victims just by being near them! People going feral, mauling their families, just by walking past these three in a shopping mall. The same is probably for these other ones too." He pointed to the captives.

"I'm going to end it. I'm gonna kill them so they can't infect anyone else."

"You don't know how insane that sounds?! You can't kill them all! Just close your eyes and think about what you're saying." I told him.

"When I close my eyes," he began, staring at me fiercely. "I see a big dead animal in my arms. I see Danielle's sister and father torn to shreds by her mother, and Danielle herself might be insane, tortured by the vampires. I don't need to close my eyes to see that, it's right here. I'm ending this. These vampires are going to wish they never met me."

"I'd be okay with you killing vampires, that's what we came here for," said Donovan, smacking Allen in the jaw with a sickening crack.

"But you also want to kill the werewolves, and I can't let you do that."

Allen pulled himself together and fixed his jaw.

"You aren't strong enough to stop me."

Donovan growled and broke into a run, slowly transforming while lumbering forward.

"Don't think you're big and bad, I have the same form as you do!" he roared.

"You won't win this, that's a promise!" He uttered his last words as his form completed and his eyes glistened with hatred.

He arched back for a full powered swing but Allen had other plans. He held his hand palm forward and the building shook. The floor cracked under Donovan's feet and he fell through it, going ten, twenty, maybe thirty floors down. The newly made hole made the alarms sound even louder, and it was easy to see the bottom floors were burning as well.

How did the fire start?

Jamie kept clutching his stomach as he got closer to the captives.

"You can't kill them Allen. You can't be certain that every single one of them would infect a normal person."

"It's not a chance I'm willing to take either." He replied.

Allen made orbs of fire in his hands, but they quickly dimmed and sputtered. He stared at his hands for a few seconds before closing his fists and extinguished the flame. But Allen wasn't done. He raised his right have in the direction of the other captured werewolves and all of their chains flew into the air simultaneously. They were ripped out the walls and they kept going up, shooting past the already broken ceiling and lifting the werewolves off of their feet. That was the first time they actually looked alive, because they all snapped up at once and started screaming in pain and terror.

"NO!" screw Jamie. He ran towards the werewolves and I ran towards Allen, while Marissa screamed from the side.

"Allen don't!"

"That alpha crap won't work on me." He replied bluntly.

"I bet this will!"

Allen turned around and saw Marissa had Danielle in firm headlock, and she was not letting go.

"If you kill them," Marissa started. "I... I'll kill her!"

Danielle began thrashing wildly in Marissa's arms but she refused to let go.

She gave me the distraction I needed. I ran up to Allen and kicked him in the chest as hard as I could, knocking him down for a couple seconds at the most.

The chains holding the werewolves stopped flying into the ceiling, and they all hit the floor in harsh thud.

They didn't stop their screams of pain though. They looked at Jamie and I pleading for us to help them. If I could distract Allen long enough, Jamie might be able to.

Jamie ran over to the nearest one and grabbed at the chains on their throat.

He instantly recoiled, hands singed, but tried again. This time, the chains raised all of them off the ground and forced them into the same position they were in the first time.

"I don't think there's anything I can do!" He yelled at me.

"There's a hex on the chains!"

I didn't have time to come up with another idea. Allen rose up behind me, looking furious.

"Get in my way again and I'll kill you." He demanded and he punched me in my chest, causing my whole body to freeze.

The punch didn't particularly hurt, but I could feel all the power behind it, sapping my strength, sucking out my breath. I thought I was overreacting until I put my hand to my chest. I felt no heartbeat, at all.

 _He stopped my heart with a single punch._

He paid no attention to me as I collapsed on the ground, silently fading away. I pulled one of the vials Kim had given me out of my pocket and slid the contents down my throat. For a few moments everything started to slip away from me and I thought my concoction failed, when suddenly there was a sharp pain in my chest. It was sharper than a heartburn, it felt like a heart attack. I could feel the blood rushing to my head and I began to breathe again, but when difficulty. My body grew hot all over as if I had gotten a fever, and I saw the hair on my arms grow slightly. I felt the hair on my face grow too. I didn't expect the effects of the second vial to do this much, but at least I was still alive.

I took this time to recover as Allen marched toward Jamie, ignoring both me and Marissa. Jamie had turned into his wolf form and was guarding the other werewolves from Allen.

What could Jamie possibly be thinking? He knows he can't free them now without magic, what's the point in still protecting them?

"Get out of the way Jamie." Allen demanded. "Or I'll kill you first."

That seemed to shock Jamie, even though it was hard to notice in his wolf form. He bared his teeth and growled even louder, daring Allen to come close.

"Why would you kill him?" I asked, trying to give someone, anyone, a little extra time to take action. If Marissa could finish Danielle...

"I thought you guys were friends."

Allen looked my way, and my heart skipped a beat in fear.

"The werewolf disease killed Danielle's family, and these three were the ones that brought it to them!" He eyes flared with flames.

"I won't explain myself again. I'm killing every werewolf here, making sure no one else in the city gets turned into a beast."

"Well what about _you?!_ " I shouted, suddenly gaining courage.

"They turned you too, in case you've forgotten! Are you gonna include yourself in this stupid little purge? Are you going to kill yourself too?!"

He went silent for a second, and so did Jamie. The silence was broken soon, however, when Marissa lost her grip and Danielle broke free. She kicked away and slashed Marissa's throat, causing a horrific amount of blood to stream from her neck. She staggered to a walk before sliding down onto the floor. Jamie, enraged, roared so hard the floor trembled and he chased after Danielle, pure fury in his eyes. Allen raised his hand again and the ceiling crashed on top of Jamie, burying him in rubble. A refrigerator from the floor above us also fell down on him, and it seemed like it would take a while to get free by himself. Danielle dashed out of the room without a second thought, running off to who knows where.

I saw Allen breathe a sigh of relief before looking back at me.

"You," he replied quietly. "You cured yourself of lycanthropy didn't you?" You can fix me. You can make me a human again."

"Well the cure I made for myself wasn't perfect, it had flaws."

Allen frowned. "Such as?"

I looked around and realized I had slowly been backing away the whole time, and he had been taking the same steps forward.

"I still had my strength, agility, and endurance." I told him.

"Well that's even better!" He replied.

"That, and... I could always still feel the werewolf inside of me. I still do. That last transformation... It may have scarred me for life."

"I don't care." He growled. "Cure me."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two hands reach up from the giant whole in the floor. Human hands. Both of the hands were cut up pretty badly but one was holding a sharp looking object that sparkled. They finally got a good hold and when they pulled themselves up, it was Donovan! I don't know what that sharp thing is, but I had a good guess of what he'd do with it. Allen was still staring at me, I needed to keep him distracted.

"It would take a long time to make one that would be compatible for you, plus I would have to test it, and-"

I saw the werewolves glance up and link at Donovan. I could tell some of them were about to scream for his help, it was on the tip of their tongues.

I broke out into a full run towards my right, with Allen following me closely behind, right as one of the werewolves screamed,

"Oh, thank God. Please save us, hurry!"

Allen turned and saw Donovan as soon as I smacked into the wall and fell. He conjured up a long silver pole that was two inches thick and sharply tipped on both ends and threw it like a javelin towards the unsuspecting werewolves. It pierced Donovan straight through his heart and went clean through five of the vampires heads, killing all but one.

"NOO!" I screamed in horror as Donovan and the werewolves all dropped, including the one that lived, still being chained to the others. I grabbed Allen and punched the evil grin off his face, breaking his jaw and skull. I dropped him like trash and ran over to Donovan.

"Donovan, it's gonna be okay, alright? You're going to live through this!"

I let the pole burn my flesh as I pulled out of Donovan's chest. Seeing it go straight through five people's heads made my stomach churn.

"Donovan... hey, man, hey. Are you still with me?"

He didn't respond, he stared through me as if I wasn't there, until I felt him touch my hand. He was sliding the sharp sparkling object into my hands.

"Free... Him." Donovan whispered.

I scooted over to the only survivor and saw that he had passed out from the ordeal. I took the blade to the chain on his neck and it sliced through like butter. I did the same to the ones binding his hands and I put him in a sitting position. Looking back at Donovan, I saw the emptiness in his eyes. He was gone, for now at least.

"I hope you didn't think you actually hurt me!" Allen called out from the other side of the room.

I tensed up, preparing for an attack, but he wasn't walking in my direction. He was walking towards Marissa and Jamie.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM! I shouted, running to save them as more of the building started falling on us.

"Don't waste your breath," Allen replied, dodging the debris. "You can't do anything to stop me."

"Try me," I snarled. I hadn't even taken the last vial yet, but I was already beginning to feel like my old self. I wasn't sure if I hated this change, or liked it.

"What could you possibly do to hurt me in any way?" He laughed and made the rubble covering Jamie fly away and revealing his limp wolf form. Looking closely, he appeared to be injured more than I first thought. He should have gotten up by now.

"This." I replied. I took the last vial out my pocket and drunk it quickly.

"What did you do, heal yourself?"

My body got warmer and I started shaking uncontrollably. I could feel my teeth getting sharper, cutting my lip as I continued to grow. In seconds I towered over him, my wolf man form feeling being, greater than it was when I first became a werewolf. Allen raised his arms, taunting me. His skin got darker and his eyes became canine.

"So... not only did you cure yourself, you made another potion to return your wolf form. That's what you used at the gas station, isn't it?"

I said nothing, still trying to adjust to my wolf form. I wiped away a ton of slob from my snout and stared him, down.

"Fine then," said Allen. "You're going to make me a cure one way, or another."


	45. Necklace

_**Samantha**_

"This is taking way too long, what are we waiting for?" I was starting to get uncomfortable standing around these strangers, doing nothing.

"Patience... Patience. Sending that other werewolf back up with the blade sped things along. This will all be over soon." said Harry.

"Actually," said Edriss, "There isn't much of a point in waiting longer. Most of the vampires we came after have been eliminated. There are only a few still lingering around, and there are in know condition to oppose us. Straight to the top floor, we get the key to the sky and we'll be gone before those dogs realized what's happening."

Harry looked up at the burning building, watching it tremble.

"It still isn't safe."

"It says alot about us when we're too afraid to go in and take something _after_ the battle is over," said Edriss.

Harry turned to him, and they stared at each other like they were ready to kill.

An ambulance pulled close to us, breaking the silence.

"Fine then," said Harry, breaking the silence. "We'll get it now."

Even the way he snapped his fingers was angry. It felt like we had begun to float on air even though I could see my feet touching the pavement, then a wall of transparent pink circled us and with jarring motion, we were in a room covered with blood and broken glass The smoke was too dense to see anything above the floor.

"Jesus..." said Edriss. "I wish we had front row seats to this shit."

Everyone slowly broke from our protection circle, eager to get a look at the chaos. Harry muttered an enchantment and quickly began to dissipate. The room we were in was very open, a door on both sides and beautiful windows that touched the marble floor. Some of the lights had gone out and some had actually fallen out of the ceiling, creating a dark and spooky look in the room.

"They're all gone." said one of the few I never cared for." She was female and had on a mostly brown getup, but she seemed happier than the rest of the whole group.

"I don't think anything was left alive." She spoke again, observing the savagery up close.

"You mages think you know everything" said a mysterious figure by the door.

The man looked like garbage. He looked like he had been in ten car accidents since he came in, scars and blood and charred flesh blackened his body. His left arm ended in an uneven burned stump, but it still looked as if it recently happened. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes looked bloodshot. Even for a vampire he looked as good as dead.

"Interesting..." said Harry. "So bold when your whole race is about to eradicated by your own disease."

He bared his fangs and hissed softly.

"How _dare_ you?" he growled, enraged.

He took two steps forward and a line of fire appeared at Harry's feet, slowly making it's way towards the vampire. It split and went in three directions, left, right, and towards the vampire. The vampire stepped back to the door, avoiding the flames.

"Look at yourself. Immortal or not, you can't take much more damage, can you? I see no allies, it's safe to assume they're dead. But I also don't see any enemies... meaning you and your crew took care of the other vampires, am I correct?"

The vampire didn't respond at all, he just glared at us viciously, breathing faster. He coughed because of the smoke, and some of the mages behind me cleared their throats as well.

"You don't seem to be taking me seriously, so let me help you." said Harry.

He raised his hand and the entire doorframe caught fire, causing the vampire to jump forth, right on the glowing trail of fire. He screamed as the fire went up his leg and circled his body, burning through clothes and flesh, gliding all over his body like a snake.

"YES!" he screamed, frantically hopping and jerking while trying to put out the flames.

"YES! STOP IT PLEASE! WE KILLED THEM! WE KILLED THEM!"

Edriss moved forward a little and put this hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Enough. It stinks in here as it is."

Harry retracted the firey line and it went back to it's original position, this time staying stationary instead of slowly moving closer.

"It's a good thing you said something." said Harry, chuckling.

"This firey only goes out when I want it too. You would've been burning to absolute ash in minutes."

The vampire, still distraught over the new wounds, trembling and slowly fell to his knees.

A roar could be heard from somewhere below us, and I swear, it sounded like Allen.

"What was that?" I asked the vampire.

"Do you know what's going on below us?"

He raised his head and spat blood at me, but the line of fire grew larger and taller, vaporizing the bloody spit.

"I don't know shit about this place," he said, seething.

"It's probably the werewolves Avery failed to kill. That's why that dumb chick is dead now."

"That's the head of this territory, I reminder her father." Edriss whispered to Harry.

"She's not the head anymore," muttered the vampire. "No one is."

Another loud roar and crash came from below, vibrating the whole building.

"Let's take the key and go before the building caves in on us." One of the mages in the back suggests.

The vampire looked up in shock.

"The key? Are you talking about-"

"Yes. Yes we are." said Harry.

Harry walked towards him, and so did the blazing line of fire. He stopped a mere foot away from the vampire and crouched to speak to him.

"Do you know where we might find it?" said Harry, playfully. He was toying with the vampire.

"I... I don't know where it is." said The vampire, eyeing the flames.

"The vampire who had it is dead somewhere here, it could be on any of these corpses..."

Harry grabbed the vampire's head, squeezed his cheeks and lifted him up off the ground.

"Bull. Shit. See, I can feel magic emanating from you. I'm almost certain the others can sense it as well."

I heard whispers behind me saying they felt it too, but I felt nothing.

"I also know that they don't let just anybody travel with the sky. There's always a mental link with the head vampires, and even then you bats always plan ahead before you use it.

It's a waste with you vampires, you only took it because you didn't want anyone else to have any piece of leverage over you. So I ask you again, where is it? What shape have you given it?"

He lifted the vampire up higher, this time causing the vampire to cry out in pain.

"Why do you need it so bad huh? Powers getting a little shaky, aren't they? Last time I checked, the key was a gift."

"A gift to werewolves, not you demons." Edriss replied, stepping forward.

"I don't see the difference." The vampire snarled.

"Fine then," Harry ceded. "I guess will pick it from your ashes."

Harry slammed the vampires face to the marble floor repeatedly until we heard a crack and the vampire went still. Then the trail of flame smothered the vampires body, covering every single inch of his skin, casting shadows in the dark room like a bonfire.

"Okay..." said Edriss, breaking the silence. "Now we have to decide who takes the key."

"Why don't you just do it?" I asked him. "Are you scared to touch the vampire?"

"No, it's not like that." Harry told me, while Edriss scowled.

"Whenever a new being touches the key, it transports then where it thinks they need to go on it's own volition. There's no controlling it, unless you are concentrating on a place really hard in your head. We aren't vampires, so it basically resets itself and tries to recalibrate for us."

"So it completely disconnects the vampires, and links to us?"

"Yes, exactly." said Harry. "But we have to choose who picks it up wisely. If the wrong person picks it up we could get whisked off to Jamaica and be stuck there for a day."

"So who should pick it up?" I asked, looking at the others. It took a few seconds to realize they were all staring at me.

"You should pick it up." said Harry. "Your niece, her curse and that monster she resurrected have a role to play, a big one. We can't ignore this."

"Afterwards," said Edriss. "We'll use the sky and restore power to all the mages that have lost it, or have been weakened. We'll supplant the vampires in no time."

I heard the flames sputter out behind him and I turned to look. The vampire was nothing but a pile of ash with smoke still coming off of it.

"Go get it." said Edriss. Also, when you grab it, don't turn it into something stupid."

I bent down and sifted through the ashes. I tried not to recoil at the thought that this used to be a person, and finally, I touched a cold hard metal, and I shook it to get ashes off.

"What is that?" said Harry, getting closer. What is that supposed to be?

"It's a necklace," I told them, my eyes still attached to it. "It looks just like my grandmother's necklace."

"We aren't getting teleported," said Edriss. "What's going on?"

"It's a necklace." said Harry. "Maybe she should put it on.

The building shook more as the werewolves below roared.

"Uh, kid, we need to go. Put on the necklace." Harry urged.

Suddenly there was an weird scream, less wolf and more human. I wasn't sure, but it still sounded like Allen. And it sounded closer than before.

"They're getting too close! Watch out!"

I was yanked back by a powerful force when the wall and part of the floor burst outwards and exploded towards us, sending splintering shrapnel in all directions. I looked up and saw Edriss was holding me, and the first protection circle had come back.

"Oh my God!" Harry exclaimed.

Turning back I saw two huge wolfish man beasts, one grey and one dark brown. I recognized the grey one. Allen, but he something felt off about him. His demeanor, I had never seen him this furious, or this size. He was strangling the other large werewolf raising him so high his head touched the ceiling. He was balancing on the jagged edges of wood that they came from and using his left hand to hold the remaining part of the wall they tore off. Looking at his hairy, bloody feet, I could see part of the room They came from. I don't know how he jumped this far.

"Allen! Allen it's me! Look at me!"

To my surprise, Edriss clamped my mouth shut.

"Stop it! Don't alert that thing to us, are you trying to get us killed?!"

I wasn't completely sure, but for a glimmer of a second, it seemed as if Allen actually looked in my direction.

Then he roared and flung the other guy towards us, leading to tons of swearing from my crowd. Edriss jumped in front of my, about to cast a spell, but Harry snapped his fingers and everything flipped out of control. We didn't just _appear_ outside on the street, we smacked the pavement. It wasn't as if we had fallen the whole way down the skyscraper, but it definitely felt about ten feet of the ground. No one landed on their feet.

I saw stars and heard groans from all sides. Someone hit my foot and I saw Edriss glaring at me, also flat on his chest.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had listened and put on the necklace!"

"Don't blame her. The key is what disrupted our teleportation." said Harry.

"She should've slipped on the necklace before those beasts arrived!"

An otherworldly cry came from above, and suddenly a big hairy brown arm jutted out the window. The beast swung it's arm, breaking the glass and causing it to shower down on us. Edriss conjured a purple shield and stopped the glass.

"You were right Harry." Edriss said while helping him up.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "I thought Allen would remember me."

"Oh, he does, I'm sure. I doubt that matters when he's fighting for his life though. I saw more blood on him than the brown guy, even though it looked like he had the upper hand there."

"Well we should go back and help him!"

One of the other mages laughed.

"God, no."

Who asked you Johnathan?" I snapped.

He frowned. "My name's Mario."

"Both of you..." Edriss whispered.

"Shut the hell up and tell me who that is."

We followed his gaze and saw a bloodied, barefoot woman watching us from the corner of the building. She was watching us like she wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it.

"She's not mortal." said Edriss. "Possibly a vampire. I can tell she's dangerous.

"Miss Sam," Harry half whispered, half hissed.

"Put on the necklace, now. Unless you'd rather me snap my fingers and our necks with the next teleportation."

"Did you say Allen?" She said softly.

"Did you say Allen?!" she spoke louder this time.

Edriss' purple barrier went up.

"I'm not playing with you girl, necklace! Now!" Harry demanded.

"Lisa, take it!"

One girl from behind me snatched the necklace out of my hand. I was prepared to bash her skull in to get it back but she put it around my neck and connected the ends.

The moment she let go, I could feel time stopping. I could feel an icy tingle in the air, despite it being the middle of summer. She smiled.

"It's real," she said as the sunset went blue and sound faded from the world. Everyone was smiling and glowing.

I looked for the girl, who had vanished, either because of the sky, or because of her own motives.

Was my mind playing tricks on me, or was that Danielle?


	46. Twenty Floors Up

_**Allen**_

Isaac was impressive, but he didn't seem that much stronger than Donovan. I swung him across the room, but there was an intense feeling in my chest, like something was pushing against it. It felt like my entire body was heating up, so I transformed back to normal. The feeling subsided just as Isaac got to his feet, now towering over my human body.

"You're not going to win," I raise my voice so he could hear me, forgetting that he had special hearing.

"I'm a werewolf and I have magic. You should know better."

Isaac tore off part of the ceiling, and flung it towards me. I blasted it with an explosion and it flew out the window.

"I don't think I can beat you," said Isaac, through his full wolf form.

"But I can make you pay!"

He charged towards me and I transformed back into my wolf form to counter his attack, picking him up and lifted him off the ground, just to slam him down behind me. I tried to speak as he did, but it mostly came out as howls and barks.

 _How did you do that?_ I asked him through a mental connection.

 _How can you maintain English in this form?_

"Why does it matter to you?!" He roared as smacked me in the face.

Left, right, back and forth, I didn't have time to react. He had me backed against the wall, and I could feel the blood rushing to my head. I used my left leg to kick him back and get a little space, but he was one step ahead. He grab my leg as soon as I lifted it and dragged me to the floor. One hand at my throat to strangle me, he viciously clawed at my chest, tearing my flesh apart like a ripe fruit.

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. All I saw was darkness as stars as my chest exploded with pain like an uncontrollable forest fire. Then suddenly, his nightmarish snout covered with my blood, he stopped to catch his breath.

 _Tired?_ I thought. _Already? He's not used to this. He hasn't done this in a while, and this smoke can't be making it easy. This may be the chance I need-_

"TO DO WHAT?!" Isaac roared, spraying my face with his spit with each word. He heard me. I wasn't even trying to let him hear me, but he did.

He took his right hand dug it deep into my chest, causing me to scream in agony. He got to his knees and pulled me up with the hole in my chest, closing his fist so the ends of his claws jutted out of a slightly higher part of my sternum. He leaned his lupine head closer toward mine and growled.

"How does it feel? This is for Donovan, Marissa, Jamie, and all those other werewolves you killed in there!"

I could feel myself slipping, slowing reverting back to human. I didn't even notice the uncomfortable feeling I had earlier because of all the pain. I can't let myself turn back into human now. I tried my best to look smug, and smiled.

"I really haven't even killed them yet. Yes, their hearts may not be beating, and their brain may be dead, but I know they can be resurrected by the full moon."

Isaac's eyes widened, and I noticed fear, even on his wolfish face.

"They wouldn't even want that." He murmured. "Death is better."

"I'm glad you agree," I told him. "Because when I was finished I was going to burn every single one of them into ash."

That infuriated him. He threw me up through the ceiling and I went straight through to the roof. Blood and tears were blocking my vision, so I couldn't see much of the sky, but I could tell it had gotten darker. The sun had set. It was officially night.

I was airborne for no more than ten seconds before I fell through the same hole I came through, back into his grasp. This time, he held up my limo body by my upper left arm, foolishly thinking I had given up. He snapped it backwards and let me crumple to the floor.

"You got so many problems Allen, you just can't see it."

His voice went from a growling, dog like chant to his natural one. So he had let his guard down. Once I was sure I was healed enough to breathe I slowly began my own transition back to normal. But pain is amplified in the human form, so standing up might be just as difficult as casting a spell on this condition.

"Before, you were bragging about having magic and being a werewolf." He raised his foot to my head and kicked me dead in my nose.

"Where your magic now huh?!" He yelled at me. "WHERE'S YOUR MAGIC NOW?!"

He raised his foot to my head again and before he could do it I shouted. I howled. I screamed. I put all my strength, heart, and energy and magic into that screamed. It was one of the most unearthly sounds I had ever heard during my short life. The walls all developed greenish hue, including the ceiling. The building started trembling way harder than anything we had experienced up to that point. It almost felt like it was rocking back and forth, like a ship.

"What did you do!" Isaac demanded, keeping his distance. "

"What did you do to this building?!" said Isaac, right as the entire ceiling came down on us.

I, was fortunate, sort of. I was still in the position I was when he threw me through the ceiling, so nothing fell untop of me. Isaac on the other hand, was crushed and possibly electricuted under the ceiling. I wasn't sure if I won or lost, because I didn't get to finish off the others. I took this time to breathe and heal. I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so rest would be good for me.

I leaned over and heard scraping sounds against the wood. Isaac. That bastard was still alive. The scraping got faster for a few seconds then it stopped and was replaced with him banging against the falling ceiling.

I was getting annoyed, and I doubt he'd feel like continuing either, so I crawled over and started moving pieces away to help him. After 2 minutes, I uncovered his face in the rubble and he immediately gasped for air.

"Thank...you." he said in between breaths, our fight momentarily forgotten.

I didn't respond, I just laid back down, to close my eyes and heal. I felt as if all the energy I had just vanished from my body.

"Does this mean you quit?" He asked me. I didn't respond.

"Will you stop hunting werewolves?" He spoke to me again.

My mind instantly thought of Danielle's family.

"No, I can't let them keep hurting people, even if they don't realize their doing it."

"See? That's your problem." Isaac snapped. "You're so ready to blame the werewolves, but the vampires orchestrated it all, side by side. They had a hand in everything that you have done, with the werewolves and without. I don't see you attacking them right now."

I still didn't have enough energy to lift my body off the floor, so I spoke to the wall.

"If you hadn't noticed, the vampires are all dead. They either attacked each other or those mages had something to do with it."

"Okay..." said Isaac. "But there was no need to get revenge on us. We- er, I mean they were by your side, more or less. They wanted to help you."

"Help me what? Help me find my friend? Or help me kill her family by turning her mother, and several others into wolfish monsters?"

Isaac didn't respond.

"Exactly. I just want to stop this... disease, before it ruins more families. I've held my dead friend in my arms. I've ran to help rescue Danielle only to discover she's become... whatever the hell the vampires were doing, and it's all because they were looking for their own cure."

I strained, grunted, and struggled, and finally turned myself around to get up. To my surprise, Isaac was just standing there, listening.

They were trying to save themselves as much as you tried to hide yourself. I just want to be free from being a werewolf. I don't... I don't want to deal with any of this anymore. Kill me. Finish me off."

Isaac stared at me for far too long, I was beginning to prefer the beating.

"Look, I can cure you... To an extent. I'm sure you'd be pleased with the results, but I'll only do it if you promise to become a test subject."

"What?" I asked, stunned. "Testing for what?"

"A newer cure. A different one. Not one for regular werewolves, but for the semi lycanthropes out there that have no control, so we can stop the outbreak.

"But what makes me so special?"

"You lycanthropy. Your transformation. You're one of the first I've ever seen to become a wolf man like that without historical figures. What do you say?"

He extended a hand towards me.

"End this. The right way. No more deaths."

I smiled. "No more _werewolf_ deaths. I might have to help my friend Sam with some things... And her niece, later on."

"She's babysitting?" He asked, puzzled.

"Yea, something like that."

I let him pull me to my feet just as a huge wolf and an angry looking man appeared in the doorway.

"Jamie?" The wolf growled in a different tone, signifying he understands to us.

"You're not killing anything else!" screamed the other man.

In his hands he brandished a long silver pipe, now covered in blood from the werewolves I attempted to kill earlier.

I was in shock, I didn't even realize what that meant.

"Allen MOVE!" Isaac grabbed me by my shoulders and tried to push me out the way, but the pole straight through him, then through me. I was already falling backwards from his push, with his added weight neither of us stood a chance We both stared in horror as we fell off the edge of the building, feeling the whole world disappear beneath us, coughing up blood as we prepared ourselves for the worst thing imaginable.

 _Twenty floors._ I found myself thinking.

 _Twenty floors up._


	47. Epilogue

_**Jamie**_

The park was oddly cold at night in the middle of the summer. The clouds were thick and moving swiftly, I could already smell the rain. Marissa was leaning against me for support, tired emotionally and physically. We stood in silence as our new friend gathered the bodies of the other werewolves and laid them next to each other.

When he was done, he stretched and yawned before walking over to us.

"Okay," he spoke to me.

"Everyone is together. No heartbeats, no breathing, but the wounds are healing. I'm sure once the full moon is out they'll be fine but, silver straight through the head? I don't see anyway they come out of this completely unscathed."

"Thanks." I told him. Marissa pulled away from me and walked over to the bodies, examining them.

"Also..." said the guy nervously.

"I'm sorry about your friend. I wasn't... I didn't know he was going to jump in front of the other guy. I didn't mean to get him too."

"It's okay. They were both our friends, once."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that."

I shook my head.

"It's nothing. Thank you for freeing me though. If you didn't, I would've been trapped when that whole building came down."

"I was only able to free you because someone cut me free. I watched that guy throw that silver pole through everyone's heads and I couldn't take it. I passed out. Then I wake up and I'm free, but everything is quiet and I'm surrounded by dead people. Except you."

"Thanks? I guess. As soon as you freed me, I knew we had to get to the fight above. But I'm not sure who freed you. It couldn't have been Donovan, because he got impaled with the others, but then again someone removed the pole from his body. The only other person could be Isaac."

"Who is that?"

"The good guy that you pierced with the pole on accident."

He fell silent.

"What about the girl? The normal one, not the crazy, barefoot, bloody-"

"Her name is Marissa."

"Where did she go?"

"She went to check on Donovan's body. We put him in a special place, a place we know far too well."

"Marissa, Donovan, Isaac... You know, I don't think I caught your name."

I held out my hand to shake his.

"My name's Jamie."

"I'm Ryan." He said, and we shook.

We can't just sit by and let the vampires keep beating us. Today, one of their territories fell. That's a big accomplishment."

"I agree," I told him. "But we need to rebuild and regroup before we take on anything else. I didn't think we could pull it off, but we did. We lost a few, but there will be many more. This is just the beginning.


	48. Epilogue Continued

_**Samantha**_

"They'll be fine, both of them. I promise" said Mario. As if his opinion mattered. After hours of arguing, I had finally managed to get them to come back, and when we arrive Allen and some other guy are lying broken, and mangled and connected by a large silver pole. I was screaming then and I'm still shaking now.

"They're both werewolves, they'll survive." Edriss reassured me.

"They are both healing very differently though, it's strange." Harry commented.

The four of us were standing together in a hospital room, watching over Allen and the guy he was find with.

"Are we sure we should be helping both of them?" said Mario.

"I mean, yeah, one of them is her friend, but the other is probably their enemy. What if they turn into two snarling beasts when they wake up."

I heard a small chuckle that sounded like a cough.

"I'm way too tired to do that."

The other man sat up in his hospital bed, groaning.

"What did you do to Allen?" I demanded. "What happened?"

"Calm down, calm down." He raised his hands.

"If anything, I'm the good guy. I was trying to stop him from murdering everyone."

"Why would he do that?" I asked, shocked.

"Something about dead family friends, being controlled, I don't know, god, my head hurts."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you two end up impaled together?" Harry asked.

The man looked at his chest and touched the vanishing wound.

"Why am I here?" He asked, looking directly at me.

"It's a hospital, and you fell off a building, why else would you be here?"

He eyed me suspiciously.

"You're all mages. What are you planning?"

"Nothing." I told him. "Nothing at all."

But he wasn't looking at me anymore, he was staring at Harry, Mario and Edriss.

"They don't know me or Allen, do they?"

I looked at them.

"Not really, no."

"So they just came to our rescue because you said so?"

"Well, I guess, but-"

He stood up and started looking for his clothes.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you, them, and this magic crap. You mages are just going to make a grasp for power and it won't end well."

"Well, I could help you get back if you need it."

"I'm taking Allen too."

He had to be joking.

"No you aren't. He's doing fine here, we're taking care of him."

"You aren't doing anything, he's healing himself. I'm going to take him back to my lab, get him the help he needs and then we're going to meet back up with the others."

"Huh, so what are _you_ planning?"

"I'm going to cure him, and we're going to find out what's causing this feral werewolf outbreak. I can't do it alone, and besides, I'm sure these three have plenty of things for you to do."

"He's right," said Harry. "That boy will only distract you and get in our way. You can reunite with him after we've dealt with your niece."

Images of Donna and Samirah flashed through my mind.

"Harry will take you where you need to go, but promise me that you'll tell Allen about me as soon as he wakes up?"

"I promise."


End file.
